Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,278,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 573,377 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $702,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.4%

SO stock opened at $95.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.91.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.