Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,810,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 521,648 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.80% of Southern worth $1,877,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 9,099.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,011,000 after buying an additional 4,373,271 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,725,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,066 shares during the period. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $103,342,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.03.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $98.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.46. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $82.05 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.85.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.