Parkside Investments LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Parkside Investments LLC increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 31.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 81,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,578 shares during the quarter. Parkside Investments LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $7,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Willis Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Southern by 50.5% in the 1st quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 5,367 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Southern by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 664,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $61,119,000 after purchasing an additional 37,824 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,835 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 32,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Finally, Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SO shares. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Southern stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $90.22. The company had a trading volume of 5,059,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,564,862. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.31. The firm has a market cap of $99.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.96 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 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.