The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stake Raised by Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 26.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP lifted its holdings in 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. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $88.26 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.96 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.64.

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.