The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Wagner Wealth Management LLC

Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the first 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 stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP lifted its stake in Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:SO opened at $88.88 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.96 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $97.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $89.75 and its 200-day moving average is $87.30.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid 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 dividend yield of 3.33%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.