Jupiter Topco LLC Purchases Shares of 1,642,660 Southern Company (The) $SO

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,642,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $157,217,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $655,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,320,000 after acquiring an additional 46,504 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.43. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s payout ratio is 72.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

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.