Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Raises Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 148.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,455 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its stake 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 valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.93.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $92.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $79.30 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.85 and its 200 day moving average is $88.29.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid 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 yield of 3.19%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.