Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,715,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,798 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $141,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $98.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.26. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company 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.