Southern Company (The) $SO Holdings Trimmed by National Pension Service

National Pension Service cut its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,706,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 74,300 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Southern were worth $248,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Advyzon Investment Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 981.9% in the second quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 30,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after buying an additional 27,610 shares during the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 12.4% during the second quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. increased its position in shares of Southern by 32.0% in the second quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 4,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,232,000. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.6% in the second quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.56.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.