Legacy Advisors LLC Sells 4,643 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Legacy Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 52.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,643 shares during the quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 129.9% in the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,042 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 10,194 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 14,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $645,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,600,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $214,038,000 after purchasing an additional 179,184 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

SO stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,228,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,634,248. 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 company has a market capitalization of $99.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.96 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.48.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

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.