Panagora Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Panagora Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 73.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 57,590 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Advantage Trust Co grew its stake in Southern by 1,428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 309.5% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $93.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.47. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.50 target price (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.03.

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.