Soundwatch Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,125,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $103,342,000. Southern accounts for 0.5% of Soundwatch Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Soundwatch Capital LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Southern at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,694,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,377,494,000 after purchasing an additional 241,572 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,297,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $510,229,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.36 on Friday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $98.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $93.91 and its 200 day moving average is $92.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price target (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.03.

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.