HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Cuts Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC cut its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 30.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,183 shares during the quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Southern by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 14,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 13,488 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,110,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Southern by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 93,910 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,731,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Evercore ISI raised their target price 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.30 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $99.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.48. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

About Southern

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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