Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Raises Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Southern were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 460,594 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $848,019,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 979,756 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.40 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.43. The firm has a market cap of $102.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.20.

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.