Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $5.33 Million Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 57,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 920 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Research Corp increased its holdings in Southern by 400.0% in the first 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 period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Elequin Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:SO opened at $92.60 on Monday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $79.30 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $101.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.22.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial started 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 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.93.

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.