The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Robbins Farley increased its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the first quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 32,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

Southern stock opened at $90.22 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.96 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.30. The company has a market cap of $99.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given 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 payout ratio is 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.