Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Brevan Howard Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its stake in Southern Company by 251.8%, buying 62,972 shares to hold 87,982 shares valued at about $8.34 million at the end of the quarter.
• Analyst views are mixed: MarketBeat shows a consensus Hold rating with a $98.08 target (six Buys, twelve Holds, one Sell), while individual firms range from Outperform to Underweight.
• Southern reported Q earnings of $0.55 EPS (missing the $0.56 estimate) on revenue of $6.98 billion (+10.1% YoY) and pays a $0.74 quarterly dividend (3.0% yield) with a ~75.3% payout ratio.

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 251.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 62,972 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in Southern were worth $8,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 851,405 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $80,688,000 after acquiring an additional 19,319 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Southern by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 148,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,069,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 15.3% in the third quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $13,975,000. Finally, Arkos Global Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 54.1% during the third quarter. Arkos Global Advisors now owns 7,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.08.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $98.06 on Friday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.58. The company has a market capitalization of $107.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

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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