EPS for Southern Co (SO) Expected At $0.70; Swiss Helvetia Fund Has 1.35 Sentiment

July 6, 2017 - By Peter Erickson

Analysts expect Southern Co (NYSE:SO) to report $0.70 EPS on July, 26.They anticipate $0.04 EPS change or 5.41% from last quarter’s $0.74 EPS. SO’s profit would be $693.36M giving it 16.94 P/E if the $0.70 EPS is correct. After having $0.66 EPS previously, Southern Co’s analysts see 6.06% EPS growth. It closed at $47.42 lastly. It is down 2.49% since July 6, 2016 and is uptrending. It has underperformed by 14.21% the S&P500.

The Swiss Helvetia Fund, Inc. is a non-diversified, closed-end investment company. The company has market cap of $320.73 million. The Fund’s investment objective is to seek long-term growth of capital through investment in equity and equity-linked securities of Swiss companies. It currently has negative earnings. The Fund may also acquire and hold equity and equity-linked securities of non-Swiss companies in limited instances.

Among 14 analysts covering The Southern Company (NYSE:SO), 2 have Buy rating, 3 Sell and 9 Hold. Therefore 14% are positive. The Southern Company had 28 analyst reports since July 21, 2015 according to SRatingsIntel. The company was initiated on Friday, May 13 by Scotia Capital. Barclays Capital upgraded Southern Co (NYSE:SO) rating on Thursday, July 14. Barclays Capital has “Overweight” rating and $62 target. Jefferies maintained the shares of SO in report on Thursday, April 13 with “Buy” rating. Jefferies upgraded Southern Co (NYSE:SO) on Friday, March 3 to “Buy” rating. The rating was initiated by Citigroup on Thursday, December 15 with “Sell”. The company was maintained on Thursday, July 14 by Goldman Sachs. The firm has “Sector Perform” rating by Howard Weil given on Friday, May 13. SunTrust maintained it with “Neutral” rating and $54 target in Monday, September 26 report. The company was downgraded on Friday, March 3 by Argus Research. The stock of Southern Co (NYSE:SO) has “Underperform” rating given on Wednesday, January 25 by Credit Suisse.

Investors sentiment decreased to 1.12 in Q4 2016. Its down 0.05, from 1.17 in 2016Q3. It dived, as 64 investors sold Southern Co shares while 341 reduced holdings. 81 funds opened positions while 371 raised stakes. 505.09 million shares or 5.13% more from 480.44 million shares in 2016Q3 were reported. Stadion Money Mngmt Ltd Com invested in 67,258 shares or 0.1% of the stock. Buckingham Asset Management Llc owns 6,063 shares. Bahl & Gaynor Inc reported 0.03% of its portfolio in Southern Co (NYSE:SO). Salient Trust Lta holds 0.03% or 5,000 shares. Ig Investment Mgmt Ltd holds 70,161 shares. Moreover, Greatmark Invest Partners Inc has 0.83% invested in Southern Co (NYSE:SO) for 40,263 shares. Stralem And Incorporated owns 10,500 shares. Savant Capital Ltd Limited Liability Company accumulated 14,456 shares. Nj State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan owns 17,000 shares or 0.17% of their US portfolio. Phocas invested in 113,067 shares or 0.37% of the stock. Tci Wealth Inc invested in 0.12% or 4,760 shares. The New Jersey-based Honeywell International Inc has invested 0.38% in Southern Co (NYSE:SO). Kbc Gru Nv has 0.04% invested in Southern Co (NYSE:SO) for 81,714 shares. Perkins Coie Trust Com has 1,420 shares. 8,650 are owned by Riverpoint Cap Mgmt Lc.

The Southern Company is a holding company. The company has market cap of $46.97 billion. The Firm owns all of the stock of the traditional electric operating companies and the parent entities of Southern Power Company (Southern Power) and Southern Company Gas, and owns other direct and indirect subsidiaries. It has a 17.62 P/E ratio. The Company’s divisions include Gas distribution operations, Gas marketing services, Wholesale gas services, Gas midstream activities and All other.

Since January 9, 2017, it had 0 insider purchases, and 5 selling transactions for $10.85 million activity. Another trade for 5,000 shares valued at $256,400 was sold by Daiss Ann P. $3.43M worth of Southern Co (NYSE:SO) was sold by Kerr – II James Y on Friday, May 5. BOWERS WILLIAM P sold $3.45 million worth of stock. BEATTIE ART P sold $2.42 million worth of Southern Co (NYSE:SO) on Wednesday, June 14. The insider Lantrip Mark sold $1.29M.

Bulldog Investors Llc holds 4.65% of its portfolio in Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc. for 1.78 million shares. 1607 Capital Partners Llc owns 3.91 million shares or 2.7% of their US portfolio. Moreover, Karpus Management Inc. has 0.85% invested in the company for 1.44 million shares. The Massachusetts-based Cutler Capital Management Llc has invested 0.54% in the stock. John G Ullman & Associates Inc, a New York-based fund reported 203,993 shares.