Albion Financial Group UT Has $7.64 Million Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 83,044 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 4,734 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT's holdings in Southern were worth $7,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the first quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Syverson Strege & Co raised its holdings in Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $90.97. The stock had a trading volume of 3,467,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,656,815. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $77.47 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $99.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.93.

About Southern

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.