Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,191,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 80,272 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.20% of Southern worth $207,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Southern by 8.6% during the third quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Business Bank increased its stake in shares of Southern by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Business Bank now owns 8,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 10,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 2,872 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Southern by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 252,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,957,000 after buying an additional 14,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 37,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,543,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Monday. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.64.

Southern Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $96.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.50 and a 200-day moving average of $91.35. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 75.32%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.