GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Sells 383 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 383 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp grew its holdings in Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.64.

Southern Stock Up 0.8%

SO opened at $90.25 on Friday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.65 and its 200 day moving average is $87.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm 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 positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

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.