Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC Purchases New Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 14,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,377,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uptick Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG lifted its holdings in Southern by 4.7% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $89.09 on Monday. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.44.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

Southern Company 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.