Sky Investment Group LLC Purchases 575 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sky Investment Group LLC increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up 1.4% of Sky Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,894 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $305,000. Certuity LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 4,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 545,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,735,000 after purchasing an additional 140,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 6,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.64.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.32. The Southern Company has a one year low of $76.96 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $99.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 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.