Financial Enhancement Group LLC Has $670,000 Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Financial Enhancement Group LLC lifted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 83.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,297 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 3,312 shares during the quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $670,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 262.0% in the first quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC now owns 543 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 2.7% during the first quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC now owns 26,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. Invesco LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 423.9% during the first quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 10,971 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 24.6% in the first quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,272 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares during the period. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded down $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $90.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,002,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,618,446. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.44. The firm has a market cap of $99.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a one year low of $76.96 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors 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 an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.93.

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.