Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Has $922,000 Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 10.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,112 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,056,441,000 after buying an additional 528,870 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Southern Stock Down 0.6%

SO opened at $88.41 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.76 and a 200 day moving average of $87.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.96 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $97.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.35%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.