MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,956 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,956 shares during the period. Southern comprises about 1.0% of MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $6,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded down $0.44 on Friday, hitting $92.82. 2,860,621 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,695,758. The company has a market capitalization of $102.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 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. The business's 50 day moving average price is $89.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.08. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $78.61 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.19%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 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.