Motiv8 Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in Southern by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 1.9% during the first quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Syverson Strege & Co boosted its position in Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.93.

Southern Trading Down 0.6%

SO opened at $90.38 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $89.74 and its 200-day moving average is $87.44. The company has a market cap of $99.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.96 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

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

About Southern

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.