Simmons Bank Raises Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

by · The Markets Daily

Simmons Bank grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,880 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares during the period. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $4,443,000. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its stake in shares of Southern by 243.3% during the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 20,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,753 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore raised shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Seven research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on SO

Southern Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $96.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.52 and a 200 day moving average of $92.46. The company has a market cap of $109.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Southern Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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