Capital Advisors Inc. OK Increases Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 911,626 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 21,359 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 1.7% of Capital Advisors Inc. OK's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Capital Advisors Inc. OK owned about 0.08% of Southern worth $83,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Elequin Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

SO stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $91.66. 3,433,100 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,674,066. The stock has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 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. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $77.62 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $89.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.90.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Southern's payout ratio is 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.