Empowered Funds LLC Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 70,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,772,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $4,443,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,462,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 969,493 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in Southern by 29.2% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 11,448 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its position in Southern by 114.2% in the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 45,112 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 24,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

SO stock opened at $88.18 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $94.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

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