Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Purchases 4,990 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 40.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,990 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the second quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.71.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.01 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.58. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $90.34. The company has a market capitalization of $97.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Southern Profile

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.