R Squared Ltd Purchases Shares of 15,719 Southern Company (The) $SO

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,000. Southern comprises approximately 0.6% of R Squared Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 120.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 309.5% during the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.64.

Southern Trading Up 0.4%

SO stock opened at $96.33 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.50 and its 200 day moving average is $91.35. The company has a market capitalization of $106.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.Southern’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.32%.

Southern Company 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.