Golden State Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 152.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,439 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,726 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 13,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.1% in the first quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 7,297 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 3,312 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 262.0% during the first quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC now owns 543 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC now owns 26,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 423.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 10,971 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SO. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.30. The company had a trading volume of 6,002,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,625,500. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's 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.