First United Bank & Trust Acquires 711 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First United Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP grew its holdings in Southern by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $89.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.31. The firm has a market cap of $98.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.74 dividend. 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 3.30%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SO. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.64.

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.