Strategic Blueprint LLC Buys 870 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Elequin Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $90.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.74 and its 200 day moving average is $87.81. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $77.47 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given 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 dividend yield of 3.25%. 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.