Independent Advisor Alliance Raises Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 145,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,302 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Southern were worth $13,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Southern by 83.8% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares during the period. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $103,342,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.91.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $82.78 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The company had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

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.