Becker Capital Management Inc. Purchases 11,734 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Becker Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 234,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,734 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $21,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at about $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after buying an additional 4,373,271 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,725,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth about $103,342,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Southern by 125.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,059,000 after acquiring an additional 750,500 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $83.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $92.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $92.58 and a 200 day moving average of $92.37.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SO. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.03.

Southern 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.