Boston Partners Sells 272,913 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Boston Partners trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 272,913 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $3,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Southern Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays set a $70.00 target price on Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.56.

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.