Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV Cuts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV trimmed its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 162 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for 0.1% of Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Southern by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 562.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 1.6%

SO opened at $88.88 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $97.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.96 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

About Southern

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.