Invesco LLC Has $1.25 Million Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Invesco LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 423.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 10,971 shares during the quarter. Invesco LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Southern Stock Up 0.3%

Southern stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $90.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,558,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,594,667. The firm's 50 day moving average is $89.74 and its 200 day moving average is $87.39. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.96 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $99.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.