Pure Financial Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO

Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $1,111,450,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $737,256,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth about $264,829,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

Southern stock opened at $89.88 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

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.