AlphaQuest LLC Has $1.31 Million Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 285.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,233 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.91.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE SO opened at $89.32 on Monday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $82.78 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.61. 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 results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

Southern 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.