Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 981,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 110,908 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $93,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.4% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,039,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in Southern by 9.5% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 49,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,522,000 after buying an additional 4,256 shares during the period. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at $419,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SO stock opened at $97.24 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $91.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Southern Company 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.