Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Spirepoint Private Client LLC

Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,952 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 9,409 shares during the period. Spirepoint Private Client LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $7,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Elequin Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE SO traded up $0.23 on Tuesday, hitting $90.90. 4,558,022 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,164,063. The company has a market cap of $99.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.39.

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 firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 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.