Integris Wealth Management LLC Sells 112 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Integris Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Elequin Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.93.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $90.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.74 and a 200-day moving average of $87.39. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

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.