2,215 Shares in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Purchased by JBR Co Financial Management Inc

JBR Co Financial Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings 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 valued at $355,864,000 after buying an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Southern by 11,230.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,690,000 after buying an additional 1,936,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 562.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,679,000 after buying an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE SO opened at $88.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $89.76 and its 200 day moving average is $87.30. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI increased 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. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

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.