McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. Sells 702 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 12.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 702 shares during the quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Investors Research Corp increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP increased its holdings in Southern by 60.6% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.64.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Southern Company 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.