Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 30,523 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 30.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,523 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $655,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Southern by 11.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after acquiring an additional 46,504 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Southern by 2.7% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after acquiring an additional 13,392 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.26.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $93.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $107.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.15.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

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.