Golden State Equity Partners Sells 3,648 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Golden State Equity Partners trimmed its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 31.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,891 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,648 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners' holdings in Southern were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Southern by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 562.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

Southern stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $90.78. 5,228,077 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,634,248. The firm has a market cap of $99.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.96 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Southern Company 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.