Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires New Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management acquired 2.77 million shares of Southern Company worth approximately $264.8 million, giving it a 0.24% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 64.1% of the utility.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with seven Buy, eleven Hold and two Sell ratings; the consensus rating is Hold with a target price of $100.09, compared with a recent share price of $92.42.
• Southern exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.13 versus the $1.01 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $6.98 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing a 3.3% annualized yield.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,766,994 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $264,829,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.24% of Southern as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SO. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $79.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE SO opened at $92.42 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $106.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $94.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.37.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The company's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

About Southern

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source