Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $408.91 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,236,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,854 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.38% of Southern worth $408,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $655,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 11.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after purchasing an additional 46,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. KeyCorp raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Seven investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $97.00 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $109.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $93.49 and a 200-day moving average of $92.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.