Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 131,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,273 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $97.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $110.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.75. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

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.