Waverly Advisors LLC Increases Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 347,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,518 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $33,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Southern by 9,736.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 125,596,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,020,878,000 after purchasing an additional 124,319,975 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $737,256,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Southern by 22.6% in the fourth 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. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the fourth 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $89.09. 6,416,290 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,761,003. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.22. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a market cap of $102.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.33.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

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.