Money Concepts Capital Corp Buys 3,496 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,496 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $4,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after buying an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Southern by 11,230.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,690,000 after buying an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 562.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $99.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50-day moving average is $89.71 and its 200 day moving average is $87.48. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.96 and a 1-year high of $94.45. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm 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 business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Southern Company 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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