Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 148.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,139 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,455 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Elequin Capital LP lifted its stake in Southern by 60.6% in 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, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $92.50. 5,215,099 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,728,822. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.85 and a 200 day moving average of $88.29. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $80.26 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company 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 boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. 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 Tuesday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.13.

About Southern

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.