Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Southern by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Southern by 11,230.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 562.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after buying an additional 1,162,288 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp cut 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 note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded down $0.18 on Friday, hitting $90.97. 3,467,244 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,669,711. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The business's fifty day moving average is $89.74 and its 200 day moving average is $87.81.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The company's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.