Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 18.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 192.0% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 63.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. VNET Group restated a “maintains” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Southern in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Southern from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.07.
Insider Transactions at Southern
Southern Stock Performance
Southern stock opened at $70.45 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $58.85 and a 1-year high of $80.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.64.
Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southern Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.32%.
Southern Company Profile
The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.
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