First Horizon Corp Boosts Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

First Horizon Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 29.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 201,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 46,102 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.4% in the first quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG increased its position in Southern by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its position in Southern by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Southern Stock Down 1.3%

SO opened at $95.11 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $93.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.