Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Takes $4.05 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 42,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,048,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Southern by 17.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth about $655,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,320,000 after buying an additional 46,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.7% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after buying an additional 13,392 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $92.83 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

About Southern

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.