M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Increases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 94.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,756 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the period. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James began coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $90.22 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business's 50 day moving average is $89.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.30. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.96 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its 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 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Southern 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.

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