NBH Bank Takes $777,000 Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

NBH Bank purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $777,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in Southern by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $655,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,320,000 after purchasing an additional 46,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of SO stock opened at $87.90 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The company 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%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

About Southern

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.