Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 30.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,761 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $7,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp raised its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Elequin Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

SO stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.78. 5,228,077 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,627,900. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.48. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.96 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

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.