D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $10.28 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,161 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $95.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $107.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several research reports. Seaport Research Partners lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.91.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.