Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $5.39 Million Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 14.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,360 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Equitable Trust Co. grew its position in Southern by 24.7% during the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,171,000 after buying an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its stake in Southern by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 822,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,521,000 after acquiring an additional 42,531 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth about $2,352,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research began coverage on Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.03.

Southern Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE SO opened at $90.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $99.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $93.78 and a 200-day moving average of $92.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. 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 is currently 73.27%.

Southern Company Profile

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.