Donaldson Capital Management LLC Buys 543,517 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2,785.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 563,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 543,517 shares during the period. Southern accounts for 1.7% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $53,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 275.0% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its holdings in Southern by 1,428.6% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter worth about $34,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price objective (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.91.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $89.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.46. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $82.78 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.62.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.27%.

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.