IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $29.73 Million Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 329,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,292 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $29,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 206.6% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,749 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 164,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $90.97. 3,467,244 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,669,711. Southern Company has a one year low of $77.47 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $89.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.93.

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.