Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. Takes $212,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Southern by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,894 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 16,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $305,000. Finally, Certuity LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 4,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $89.58 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.96 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Southern’s payout ratio is 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.64.

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.