9,811 Shares in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Purchased by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,811 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $902,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Southern by 23.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,815,000 after acquiring an additional 15,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 16,464.2% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 31,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 31,776 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.20.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.10. The stock had a trading volume of 4,197,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,747,839. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $94.63. The firm has a market cap of $103.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 3.25 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $90.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.55.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.