RFG Advisory LLC Buys 1,247 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,247 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Southern by 4.2% in the first quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.8% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 71,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,612,000 after buying an additional 11,378 shares during the last quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 33.7% during the first quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after buying an additional 7,933 shares during the period. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc increased its holdings in Southern by 4.6% during the first quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 4,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 5.9% in the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 19,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $89.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $98.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.26. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.21.

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.