Aviva PLC Acquires 771 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 771 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Southern by 125.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,059,000 after buying an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Southern by 40.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,789,000 after buying an additional 623,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 71.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,253,000 after buying an additional 499,996 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.50 price objective (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Cowen assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.56.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $91.97 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $101.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $94.15 and its 200 day moving average is $92.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.