Gables Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 8,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $784,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,443,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Southern by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 99,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,667,000 after acquiring an additional 16,878 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $2,462,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Southern by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,767,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,150,000 after acquiring an additional 969,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its position in Southern by 29.2% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,887,000 after purchasing an additional 11,448 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:SO opened at $92.12 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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 return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued 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 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 72.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Company 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.