Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Raises Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 268,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,322 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Southern were worth $24,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 70.4% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 30.0% in the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $376,000. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at $840,000. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the first quarter worth about $529,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $93.97 and a 200 day moving average of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Southern to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.03.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.