Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 37,233 Southern Company (The) $SO

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 37,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,564,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,443,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,462,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Southern by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,767,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $154,150,000 after purchasing an additional 969,493 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 29.2% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 158,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,803,000 after purchasing an additional 10,531 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on SO shares. 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $101.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.38. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 72.90%.

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.