Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 167,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,078,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $102.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

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.