First Horizon Advisors Inc. Acquires 40,278 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 362,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,278 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises approximately 0.9% of First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $33,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 2.2% in the 4th 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 period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Southern by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,288,000 after buying an additional 194,114 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $90.98 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.70. 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 Company has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $99.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38.

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. 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.93.

About Southern

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.