Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Has $5.76 Million Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 13,437 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up about 1.4% of Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $5,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investors Research Corp raised its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $39,000. Elequin Capital LP raised its position in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report 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. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.93.

Southern Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE SO traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $92.60. 5,014,903 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,708,344. The business's 50-day moving average is $89.82 and its 200-day moving average is $88.15. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $79.30 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

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

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.