Mackenzie Financial Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 907,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,592 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $85,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $979,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Southern by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 26,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,554,000 after buying an additional 3,933 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Southern by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 420,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,819,000 after buying an additional 25,376 shares during the last quarter. PFC Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. PFC Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in Southern by 320.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after buying an additional 25,567,431 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $96.21 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $105.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $100.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company 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 for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

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.