Sigma Planning Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,778 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,234 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $4,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Southern by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after buying an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 562.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.20.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $94.07. 2,407,185 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,725,679. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $94.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.43. The company has a market cap of $103.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. Southern's payout ratio is 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.