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Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 47.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,193 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 562.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.
Southern Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $90.78 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $89.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.55. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.96 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.
Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.
Southern Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.93.
View Our Latest Analysis on SO
About Southern
The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO – Free Report).
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