Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Beacon Pointe Advisors acquired 94,275 shares of Southern Company in the second quarter, worth approximately $9.0 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 64.1% of the utility’s shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $100.09, compared with the stock’s $88.18 opening price.
• Southern beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.13 versus the $1.01 consensus estimate, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing a 3.4% annualized yield.

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 94,275 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,023,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,443,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,462,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Southern by 121.4% during 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 buying an additional 969,493 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in Southern by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,887,000 after buying an additional 11,448 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 158,292 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,803,000 after buying an additional 10,531 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:SO opened at $88.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $94.12 and a 200 day moving average of $94.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source