Spinnaker Trust Invests $361,000 in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Spinnaker Trust purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Southern by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after acquiring an additional 460,594 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of SO stock traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.98. The stock had a trading volume of 6,437,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,661,573. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $89.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company 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%. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.