Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Southern by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $848,019,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Southern by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.97. 3,467,244 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,679,052. The company has a market cap of $99.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $77.62 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $89.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. 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 dividend 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.