Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $25.26 Million Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 263,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,800 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $25,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 17.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $655,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,320,000 after buying an additional 46,504 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Southern by 2.7% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after buying an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 1.0%

SO opened at $88.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $101.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.38. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 72.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

Southern 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.