Griffith & Werner Inc. Buys New Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 63,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,798,000. Southern makes up about 3.1% of Griffith & Werner Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 2,785.8% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 563,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,358,000 after purchasing an additional 543,517 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,813,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth about $4,852,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 23.6% in the second quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shelton Capital Management raised its position in shares of Southern by 700.6% in the second quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 161,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,841,000 after buying an additional 141,430 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.64.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $96.92 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $90.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.37. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.32%.

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.