World Equity Group Inc. Sells 4,605 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

World Equity Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 50.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,605 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Elequin Capital LP lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp downgraded 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 raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

SO opened at $89.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $89.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.35. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.96 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $97.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Southern's dividend 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.

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