Allworth Financial LP Buys 15,643 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,978 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,643 shares during the quarter. Allworth Financial LP's holdings in Southern were worth $15,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,465,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its stake in Southern by 1.1% during the first 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 in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.0% during 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 during the period. PFW Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.7%

Southern stock traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $92.60. 5,014,903 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,708,344. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $79.30 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $89.79 and its 200-day moving average is $88.08.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.