Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 22.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 27,346 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Southern were worth $13,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $1,205,000. Maripau Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $221,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 114,289 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,408,000 after acquiring an additional 5,928 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $90.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $0.74 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $89.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.