Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,249 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Southern by 320.3% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after buying an additional 25,567,431 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,111,450,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew 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 valued at $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of SO stock opened at $97.84 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $110.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

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.