Brown Financial Advisory Buys 316 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Brown Financial Advisory raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the quarter. Brown Financial Advisory’s holdings in Southern were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 5.4% in the first quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 32,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 4.6% in the first quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth $304,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 27,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:SO opened at $91.66 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $77.62 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.