Penserra Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 413.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,739 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,870 shares during the quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 56.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,815,000 after acquiring an additional 15,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 16,464.2% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 31,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 31,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Down 0.7%

Southern stock traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $92.60. The stock had a trading volume of 5,014,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,703,699. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $78.61 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $101.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.08. 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 (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.