Deutsche Bank AG Has $154.46 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Deutsche Bank AG decreased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,876,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 66,146 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in Southern were worth $154,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Enhancement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $326,000. Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Southern by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 237,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,556,000 after acquiring an additional 14,824 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 292,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,095,000 after purchasing an additional 25,200 shares during the period. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 89,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,363,000 after purchasing an additional 8,261 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.07.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $90.37 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $90.24 and its 200-day moving average is $87.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.64 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

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.