Means Investment CO. Inc. Has $906,000 Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Means Investment CO. Inc. lowered its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 29.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,139 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 3.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SO. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.93.

Southern Trading Up 0.0%

SO opened at $88.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $89.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

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.

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