Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Acquires 9,225 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 288.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,225 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 36,044 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,314,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Southern by 2.8% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 128,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,805,000 after buying an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc bought a new position in Southern during the first quarter valued at about $204,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,060 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,671,000 after acquiring an additional 6,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Southern by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 12,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.00 on Thursday, reaching $88.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,189,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,578,095. The business's fifty day moving average price is $89.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $97.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. KeyCorp lowered shares of 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 upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

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.