Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. Sells 2,957 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. lowered its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,957 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 2.1% of Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.'s holdings in Southern were worth $3,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after acquiring an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Southern by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $848,019,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during 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 valued at $428,794,000 after buying an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $93.40. 4,489,163 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,732,988. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $102.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.20.

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.