Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC Invests $1.13 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on SO. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:SO opened at $89.09 on Monday. 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.