Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Boosts Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Southern Company (NYSE: SO) by 35.1%, owning 27,718 shares valued at $2.55 million after purchasing an additional 7,206 shares in the first quarter.
• Southern Company reported earnings per share of $0.91 for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations of $0.99, while revenues rose to $6.97 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 35.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,718 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 7,206 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Southern were worth $2,549,000 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. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Southern by 562.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after buying an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Southern by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after buying an additional 979,756 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO traded down $0.60 on Friday, reaching $94.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,148,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,395,827. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $91.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.