M Holdings Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,414,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,084,885,000 after purchasing an additional 510,080 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Southern by 320.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,567,431 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,179,715,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,628,000 after purchasing an additional 285,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $621,567,000 after buying an additional 87,891 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $98.06 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial set a $103.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.