Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 3,461 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 25.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,461 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% in 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. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP raised its position in Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.88 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.96 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.75 and a 200-day moving average of $87.30.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The 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. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

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.