Strs Ohio Buys 30,446 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Strs Ohio raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 280,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,446 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Southern were worth $27,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Southern by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,111,450,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $97.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $93.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

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.