Midwest Trust Co Invests $20.73 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Midwest Trust Co purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 225,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,733,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price objective (up previously from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 17th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.56.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

SO opened at $91.39 on Friday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.19 and a 200-day moving average of $92.50. The stock has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

Southern Profile

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.