Financial Counselors Inc. Has $21.25 Million Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 231,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,127 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $21,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Elequin Capital LP lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.65 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $91.91. 3,235,666 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,685,481. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.01. The firm has a market cap of $101.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $77.79 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.