Hengehold Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in Southern by 23.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.9% in the first quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co grew its position in Southern by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robbins Farley grew its position in Southern by 0.4% in the first quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 32,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,984,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.22 on Friday. 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 Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.31. The company has a market cap of $99.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) 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. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current 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 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

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.