West Paces Advisors Inc. Buys 22,207 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 426.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,207 shares during the period. Southern makes up 0.6% of West Paces Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. West Paces Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $2,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP grew its position in Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.77 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $89.27. 3,968,964 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,528,242. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.96 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.64 and a 200-day moving average of $87.28.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS 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 issued a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued 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 a consensus target price of $92.64.

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.