Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Buys New Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 68,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,565,000. Southern comprises approximately 1.4% of Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,443,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 99,386 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,667,000 after buying an additional 16,878 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,462,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Southern by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,767,773 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $154,150,000 after acquiring an additional 969,493 shares during the period. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Southern by 29.2% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 11,448 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $92.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $105.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $94.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.40. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm 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%.The company's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $79.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seven research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

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