Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Sells 797 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 797 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 11.0% during the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 12,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 63.3% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.3% during the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 15,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 9.0% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of SO opened at $89.09 on Monday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.96 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $89.75 and its 200-day moving average is $87.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Southern’s 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.