Magellan Asset Management Ltd Acquires 94,933 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 21.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 545,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 94,933 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Southern were worth $52,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the fourth 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 period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.78.

Southern Stock Down 0.7%

SO opened at $93.83 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $105.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.23 and a 200-day moving average of $93.54.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio 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.