Southern Company (The) $SO Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Raises Stake

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 14.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 392,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,100 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Southern were worth $32,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bullseye Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $114.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.24.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $93.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $107.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $87.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.35. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $81.69 and a 52-week high of $99.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.90%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.