The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is Griffith & Werner Inc.'s 9th Largest Position

Griffith & Werner Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Southern makes up about 3.4% of Griffith & Werner Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Griffith & Werner Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $5,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Southern by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Southern by 11,230.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 562.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $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.

Southern Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $88.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,907,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,530,514. The firm has a market cap of $97.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.28. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.96 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. 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 company posted $1.03 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.64.

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.