Fiduciary Group LLC Sells 2,515 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Fiduciary Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 96,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,515 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP raised its position in Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $91.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 166,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,629,812. The stock has a market cap of $101.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $77.00 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.73 and a 200-day moving average of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.93.

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.