Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL Purchases Shares of 7,727 Southern Company (The) $SO

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $1,111,450,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $737,256,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Southern by 18.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $264,829,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

Southern stock opened at $89.95 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $103.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid 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 payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern 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.