Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors Buys 129 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors’ holdings in Southern were worth $2,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of Southern by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 7,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 24,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 24,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 70,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,829,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.42 on Thursday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.96 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.31. The firm has a market cap of $97.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly 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. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.93.

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.