Tema Etfs LLC Takes $1.73 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Tema Etfs LLC acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,728,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $103,342,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.21.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $86.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $95.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.95. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.50 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

About Southern

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.