Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Southern Company by 13.7%, owning 22,473 shares valued at $2,066,000 after acquiring an additional 2,708 shares in Q1.
• Southern Company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue of $7.78 billion, a 17.0% increase from the same quarter last year.
• A recent quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share has been announced, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.11% with stockholder record set for August 18th.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,473 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 2,708 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $2,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Investors Research Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Elequin Capital LP grew its position in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:SO traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $94.96. 7,489,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,203,733. 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 firm has a market cap of $104.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.32.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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, July 16th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.27.

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.