The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Boosted by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,910 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 11,378 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $6,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 33.7% during the 1st quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,461 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 7,933 shares in the last quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 4,550 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 19,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 99,138.1% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 20,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 20,819 shares during the period. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 11.4% in the first quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.01 on Thursday, reaching $88.28. 6,725,070 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,530,035. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The business's 50-day moving average is $89.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 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.