Lido Advisors LLC Acquires 7,704 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,704 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $655,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Southern by 11.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after purchasing an additional 46,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Southern by 2.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays lowered 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. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Trading Up 0.8%

Southern stock opened at $96.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $108.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.67. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

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.