Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Lowers Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. cut its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 46.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,369 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.'s holdings in Southern were worth $755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 15,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,260,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 20,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,665,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 8,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 101.3% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 9,054 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 4,556 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $99.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $89.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.96 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. 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 3.26%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

About Southern

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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