Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP increased 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 valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.88 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.96 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.30. The company has a market capitalization of $97.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.