Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 58.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,631 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.21.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $96.24 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $108.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.94.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. 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 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.