Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Raises Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 115,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,128 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,380,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,895,000 after buying an additional 392,210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. 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 assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.90 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.26. 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 company has a market cap of $101.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.33. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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 net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

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.