Fulton Bank N.A. Raises Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 35.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,023 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth about $655,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after purchasing an additional 46,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Southern by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $91.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $105.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Seaport Research Partners lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.26.

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.