Bush Investment Group LLC Purchases 141 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Bush Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up about 0.8% of Bush Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Bush Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,079,000 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. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 7,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $655,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, Welch & Forbes LLC grew its stake in Southern by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 6,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $90.97 on Friday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $77.62 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.86.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

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.