Verity & Verity LLC Sells 69,235 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Verity & Verity LLC reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 34.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 69,235 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $12,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP grew its position in Southern by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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. 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 cut their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Southern Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $1.47 during trading on Monday, reaching $88.88. 5,321,464 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,568,068. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.96 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The business's fifty day moving average is $89.71 and its 200-day moving average is $87.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Southern's 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.