Trajan Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 85,436 Southern Company (The) $SO

Trajan Wealth LLC bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 85,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,177,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $264,829,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:SO opened at $90.10 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $94.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.44. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $103.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

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.