Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 285,546 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 285,546 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.77% of Southern worth $808,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in Southern by 83.8% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694,066 shares during the period. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $103,342,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of SO opened at $97.24 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $107.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has 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 price target of $98.08.

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.