Equitable Holdings Inc. Makes New $8.04 Million Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 83,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,040,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $737,256,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings 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 raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring 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 2nd quarter valued at $264,829,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.94 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.42. The company has a market capitalization of $102.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Seven 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

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.