Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management raised its stake in Southern by 2.3% in Q3, adding 19,319 shares to hold 851,405 shares worth about $80.69 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 64.1% of the stock.
• Southern missed EPS in the most recent quarter by $0.01 (reported $0.55 vs. $0.56 est.) but beat revenue estimates with $6.98 billion, a 10.1% year-over-year increase.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.74 ($2.96 annualized) for a ~3.0% yield and 75.3% payout ratio, while analysts maintain a consensus "Hold" rating with a $98.08 price target.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 851,405 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,319 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Southern worth $80,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 120.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $98.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm's 50 day moving average is $91.79 and its 200-day moving average is $91.58. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.08.

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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