Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 531,306 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 685.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 608,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 531,306 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Southern were worth $58,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gentry Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.3% during the third quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds LLC. increased its position in Southern by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 11,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seaport Research Partners lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

Southern Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE SO opened at $95.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $93.44 and its 200-day moving average is $92.30. The firm has a market cap of $108.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

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

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.