Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,476 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,724 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $6,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 562.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after acquiring an additional 979,756 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:SO traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.10. The company had a trading volume of 4,197,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,747,839. The company has a market capitalization of $103.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.55. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $94.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.20.

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.