Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $6.62 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 30.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,523 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Uptick Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the first quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG boosted its stake in Southern by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.26.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $93.15 on Thursday. 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 Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $94.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.15. The company has a market capitalization of $107.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

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

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.