Brookstone Capital Management Has $9.83 Million Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 25.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,879 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,739 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Southern were worth $9,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Elequin Capital LP increased its position in Southern by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,467,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,669,711. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $94.45. 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 has a market capitalization of $99.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.74 and a 200 day moving average of $87.81.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.