Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC Invests $4.73 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 49,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,729,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Southern by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,486,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,597,000 after acquiring an additional 45,313 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 17.3% during the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 31,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,863,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Southern by 36.1% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 14,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,941 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 333,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,637,000 after buying an additional 23,889 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Southern in a report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Southern in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.79.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $86.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $94.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $92.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

Southern Profile

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.