Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $14.24 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 6,076 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $14,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Southern by 325.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 boosted its holdings in Southern by 562.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded down $1.32 on Wednesday, hitting $90.98. 6,437,000 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,654,024. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $99.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $77.00 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

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.