West Family Investments Inc. Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 10,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,450,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $92.22 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $106.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $94.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.42. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

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.