Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL Takes $3.30 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 34,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,297,000. Southern accounts for about 1.3% of Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.88 on Thursday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.43. The company has a market cap of $103.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.