Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV Cuts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 162 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 0.1% of Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Investors Research Corp increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP grew its holdings in Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.88 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a PEG 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.30.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 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.