Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,340,829 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,360 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Southern worth $123,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Elequin Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of SO traded up $0.15 on Monday, reaching $91.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,433,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,674,066. 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 twelve month low of $77.62 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.75 and a 200-day moving average of $87.96.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid 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 3.23%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.93.

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.