CFO4Life Group LLC Acquires New Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

CFO4Life Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Southern by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,504,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,866,000 after acquiring an additional 465,399 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 65,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,366,000 after buying an additional 10,999 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 25,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after buying an additional 2,879 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $89.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.08. 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 $78.61 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $102.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 3.29 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 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.93.

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.