QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $12.61 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 137,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,149 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $12,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after buying an additional 528,870 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Southern by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $889,490,000 after acquiring an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $88.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $89.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on SO shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.00.

About Southern

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.

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