Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. lessened its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Elequin Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.20.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:SO opened at $93.76 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $89.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

About Southern

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.