NEOS Investment Management LLC Buys 20,070 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 180,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,070 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $17,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $1,111,450,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Southern in the second quarter worth $737,256,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Southern by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $264,829,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Stock Down 1.0%

SO opened at $87.90 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $93.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.26. The company has a market cap of $101.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.90%.

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.