Spirepoint Private Client LLC Has $7.54 Million Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,409 shares during the quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Southern by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,815,000 after buying an additional 15,923 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Southern by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 164,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,564,000 after buying an additional 1,785 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 16,464.2% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 31,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,632,000 after buying an additional 31,776 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Southern by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after buying an additional 10,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.74 and a 200-day moving average of $87.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.93.

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.