Mayfair Advisory Group LLC Sells 1,082 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Mayfair Advisory Group LLC decreased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,082 shares during the period. Southern accounts for approximately 1.1% of Mayfair Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Southern by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $889,490,000 after acquiring an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.41 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.30. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.96 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.