Edgestream Partners L.P. Increases Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1,790.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 100,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 95,462 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its position in shares of Southern by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 72,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,026,000 after acquiring an additional 3,615 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Southern by 2,111.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,713,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636,051 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 3.1% in the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 37,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $438,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Southern by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 202,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,540,000 after buying an additional 48,273 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. Seven 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, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.21.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $96.24 on Thursday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.94.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

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.