Lifeworks Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 19.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 82,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,637 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 1.0% of Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Southern by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its position in Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays lowered 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $89.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.26.

Southern Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $95.62 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $107.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $94.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.14. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The company 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 prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 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.