Stephens Inc. AR Has $10.74 Million Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,847 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,907 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Southern were worth $10,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Platform Technology Partners raised its position in shares of Southern by 3.9% during the first quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 3,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Southern by 1.8% during the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 321,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,567,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735 shares during the period. Realta Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $200,000. Nikulski Financial Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 17.7% during the first quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 4,737 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $204,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp cut 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $92.60 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $89.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $79.30 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 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.

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