Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2,780.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 700,628 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 676,302 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.06% of Southern worth $64,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:SO traded up $0.70 on Thursday, hitting $90.25. The stock had a trading volume of 7,122,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,546,856. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $99.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.31. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.96 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change 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 currently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group boosted 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. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.64.

Southern Company 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.