DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Lowers Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reduced its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 179,464 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,067 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Southern were worth $16,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Research Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Elequin Capital LP increased its position in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE SO traded down $0.66 on Friday, hitting $92.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,014,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,712,465. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $79.30 and a 52-week high of $94.45. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $89.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.18. The firm has a market cap of $101.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.