Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC Purchases New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 90,063 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,281,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Southern by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,936 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,894 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Southern by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 545,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,735,000 after purchasing an additional 140,401 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Southern by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 347,051 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,570,000 after acquiring an additional 43,631 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,292 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.00.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE SO traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.22. 5,059,008 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,564,862. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.31. 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 Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.96 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $99.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. 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.