Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 664,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,824 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.06% of Southern worth $61,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Southern Price Performance
Shares of SO traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $90.25. The company had a trading volume of 7,122,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,546,856. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $99.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.96 and a 12-month high of $94.45.
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 the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts recently 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 stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.64.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on SO
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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.
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