Dover Advisors LLC Makes New $290,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Dover Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,151 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Investors Research Corp lifted its position in Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP lifted its position in Southern by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $90.22. 5,059,008 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,564,862. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.31. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.96 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $99.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.