Reliant Investment Partners LLC Invests $564,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

Reliant Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Southern by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 worth $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

SO opened at $91.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

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.