Raiffeisen Bank International AG Decreases Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Raiffeisen Bank International AG trimmed its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 680 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in Southern were worth $112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 275.0% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Southern in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.56.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $88.98 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.48. The company has a market capitalization of $97.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.27%.

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.