Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Boosted by Verity Asset Management Inc.

Verity Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 100.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,212 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,107 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $1,675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Shilanski & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 61,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,673,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $216,000. Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its position in Southern by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 29,992 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,733,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 75.8% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 33,657 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,095,000 after purchasing an additional 14,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.8% during the first quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 4,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $90.78 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $99.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.58. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $0.74 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

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.

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