Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 362,345 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 40,278 shares during the period. Southern makes up 0.9% of First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $33,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first 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 period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Elequin Capital LP boosted its holdings in Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.93.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

SO stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $90.97. 3,467,244 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,679,052. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $77.62 and a 1 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.90.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.