First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Southern Company by 12.7%, buying 110,908 shares to hold 981,421 shares worth about $93.01 million per its latest SEC filing.
• Southern slightly missed quarterly EPS ($0.55 vs. $0.56 estimate) while reporting revenue of $6.98 billion, up 10.1% year-over-year, and it pays a $0.74 quarterly dividend (annualized $2.96, ~3.0% yield; payout ratio ~75.3%).
• Analysts are mixed — the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $98.08, amid recent actions like JPMorgan cutting its target and Evercore upgrading the stock to "outperform."

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 12.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 981,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 110,908 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.09% of Southern worth $93,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,195,000. Chapman Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Marietta Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Southern by 6.6% in the third quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC now owns 39,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,744,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 381,350 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,141,000 after purchasing an additional 7,912 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Moore & CO. raised its position in Southern by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 20,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.08.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of SO stock opened at $97.24 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $91.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.32%.

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.

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