Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its Southern Company stake by 7.2% in the first quarter, buying an additional 216,900 shares and bringing its total holding to 3.23 million shares worth about $311.9 million.
• Southern reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.32 versus the $1.21 estimate and revenue of $8.40 billion versus $8.07 billion expected. Revenue rose 8.0% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share from $0.74, implying an annualized dividend of $3.04 and a yield of 3.2%.

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,231,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 216,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Southern worth $311,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $89.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.91.

Southern Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $95.33 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $107.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Southern 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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