Lido Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Lido Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 104,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,704 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its stake 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 valued at $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $96.53 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SO. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

About Southern

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.