Inscription Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,278 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in Southern by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 7,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 24,544 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,020,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Southern by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,516 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded up $0.00 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,189,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,573,226. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $89.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.30. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 3.35%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.93.

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.