apricus wealth LLC Buys 1,215 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

apricus wealth LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Southern accounts for approximately 1.8% of apricus wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investors Research Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP boosted its stake in Southern by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.58 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.31. The stock has a market cap of $98.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.96 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.64.

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.