84,267 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Acquired by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 84,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,065,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.47 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $105.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

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.