Griffith & Werner Inc. Increases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Griffith & Werner Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Southern makes up 3.4% of Griffith & Werner Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Griffith & Werner Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New Hampshire boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 3,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 98,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,085,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 17,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.96 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.28.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Southern’s payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.64.

Southern Company 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.