The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 487,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,460 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $43,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 63.2% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC boosted its position in Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.12 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $96.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

About Southern

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.