6,497 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Acquired by Focused Alpha LLC

Focused Alpha LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 6,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Southern during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $92.42 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a market cap of $106.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.37.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.90%.

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.