Sentry Investment Management LLC Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 108,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,021,000 after buying an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.2% in the first quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,798 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $901,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 71,910 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,612,000 after acquiring an additional 11,378 shares in the last quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 33.7% during the 1st quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,461 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 7,933 shares during the period. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 4,550 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded down $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $88.28. 6,725,070 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,530,035. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.96 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $89.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.64.

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.