Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Reduces Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,175 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $12,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.54 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $88.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,559,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,434,611. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.70 and a 200 day moving average of $84.86. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 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 $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.47.

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.