Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA lessened its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,767 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,801 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for 1.2% of Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA's holdings in Southern were worth $16,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.97. 3,467,244 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,679,052. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $99.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.86. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $77.62 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.93.

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.