Hayek Kallen Investment Management Buys Shares of 28,200 Southern Company (The) $SO

Hayek Kallen Investment Management bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 28,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,699,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $25,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $88.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.22 and a 200 day moving average of $94.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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 dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

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.