Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 11.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Southern by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,815,000 after acquiring an additional 15,923 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Southern by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 164,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 16,464.2% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 31,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 31,776 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Southern by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 10,194 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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, June 18th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $90.90 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $99.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a one year low of $76.96 and a one year high of $94.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.42.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.