Mather Group LLC. Boosts Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 158.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 13,910 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.'s holdings in Southern were worth $2,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after buying an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Southern by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of SO stock traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.98. 6,437,000 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,654,024. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $99.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $89.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.68. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $77.00 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS 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 given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.