The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 143.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 173,729 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $27,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Investors Research Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st 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 acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP increased its position in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $90.22. 5,059,008 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,564,862. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $89.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $99.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.