Norris Perne & French LLP MI Sells 216,965 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI lessened its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 95.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 216,965 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI's holdings in Southern were worth $1,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp raised its stake in Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Elequin Capital LP increased its position in Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.93.

Southern Trading Up 0.0%

SO opened at $88.42 on Thursday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.77 and a 200-day moving average of $87.31. The stock has a market cap of $97.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were 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 presently 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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