Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.48% of Southern worth $9,582,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in Southern by 23.0% during the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 1.9% during the first quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Southern Stock Down 0.6%
Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $94.75. The company had a trading volume of 4,148,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,395,827. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $91.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.
Insider Activity
In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.29.
Read Our Latest Research Report on SO
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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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