Jennison Associates LLC Has $198.79 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 40.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 623,417 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Southern worth $198,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,238 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,861,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $203,000. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 223,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $20,509,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its position in shares of Southern by 14.5% during the first quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 10,794 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.5% in the first quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 17,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.20.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $94.10. 4,197,840 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,739,768. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $103.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.43. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $94.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.