The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 24.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after buying an additional 5,894 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 545,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,735,000 after buying an additional 140,401 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Southern by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 347,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,570,000 after buying an additional 43,631 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Southern stock opened at $90.22 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.96 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $99.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

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. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during 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%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.