36,979 Shares in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Bought by Trek Financial LLC

Trek Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 36,979 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,400,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,749 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Southern by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $223,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $3,133,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 518,712 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,700,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $90.78. The stock had a trading volume of 397,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,658,328. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.96. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $77.62 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.

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