15,351 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Bought by Two Sigma Securities LLC

Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 15,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,469,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uptick Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 2.4% during the first quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.3% in the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG boosted its stake in Southern by 4.7% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $88.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $101.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

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.