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

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,199 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Southern by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after buying an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Southern by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,457,000 after purchasing an additional 934,447 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in Southern by 7,657.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,304,000 after purchasing an additional 563,785 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Southern by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,457,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.71.

Southern Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.01 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $90.34. The company has a market cap of $97.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.58.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend 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.