Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 345.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 25,558 shares during the quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $3,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Elequin Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE SO traded up $1.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $92.96. 2,370,342 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,677,300. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $89.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.01. 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 Company has a 12-month low of $77.79 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $102.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38.

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, 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp cut 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus 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.