The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 64.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 548,364 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 215,029 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Southern worth $49,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd 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. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.00.

Southern Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.39. 3,241,549 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,419,814. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $92.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. Southern's payout ratio 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.