Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $747,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Spirepoint Private Client LLC raised its position in Southern by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after purchasing an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $4,443,000. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO increased its stake in shares of Southern by 243.3% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 20,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after buying an additional 14,753 shares during the period. Bell Bank raised its holdings in Southern by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 127,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after buying an additional 21,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,462,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $96.53 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $94.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.67. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $108.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.