Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,715,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 104,798 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of Southern worth $141,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its position in Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.46.
View Our Latest Analysis on Southern
Southern Stock Performance
NYSE SO traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $92.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,385,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,487,685. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $100.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.24.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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.
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