Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 5,006 Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 1st 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,815,000 after purchasing an additional 15,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 16,464.2% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 31,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 31,776 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.20.

Southern Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $94.10. 4,197,840 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,166,199. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $94.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company's 50-day moving average price is $89.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend 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 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.