Tudor Financial Inc. Makes New $202,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 0.7% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 23.0% during the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1.9% during the first quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co grew its holdings in Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.22 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $76.96 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $99.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.71 and its 200 day moving average is $87.33.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.