Capital International Inc. CA Purchases 174,642 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Capital International Inc. CA raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 481,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 174,642 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA’s holdings in Southern were worth $45,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,039,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Southern by 9.5% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 49,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,522,000 after buying an additional 4,256 shares during the period. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth about $419,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $103.00 target price on Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.08.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:SO opened at $97.24 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $107.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 75.32%.

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.