Empowered Funds LLC Makes New $6.77 Million Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 70,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,772,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:SO opened at $88.18 on Monday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.42.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.