Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Stake Reduced by Plimoth Trust Co. LLC

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC cut its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 235 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in Southern by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 7,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 24,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Southern by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 24,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 70,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,829,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.96 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $97.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.31.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that 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 dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase 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%.

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.