Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors increased its stake in Southern Company by 3.2% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 2.66 million shares valued at about $256.3 million.
• Southern reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.32 versus estimates of $1.21 and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 8% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, or $3.04 annualized, yielding about 3.2% based on the article’s share price.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,655,044 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 82,941 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.24% of Southern worth $256,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $1,111,450,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.91.

Southern Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $95.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.38, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $94.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Southern Company Profile

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.