Markowski Investments Makes New $1.23 Million Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Markowski Investments purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 12,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,232,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,443,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,767,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,150,000 after purchasing an additional 969,493 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 29.2% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,887,000 after purchasing an additional 11,448 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its holdings in Southern by 114.2% in the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 45,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 24,056 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in Southern by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 92,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,908,000 after buying an additional 14,798 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 1.0%

Southern stock opened at $87.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $101.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.33. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $93.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

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.