9,343 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Bought by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Norris Perne & French LLP MI acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $25,000. Bullseye Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SO. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. HSBC initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.50 target price for the company. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.24.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $93.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $81.69 and a 1 year high of $99.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.31.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.