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

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Southern Company by 13.5%, owning 1,946,904 shares valued at approximately $179 million after acquiring an additional 230,936 shares in Q1.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their investments in Southern, with Marshall Wace LLP raising their stake by 325.7% and GAMMA Investing LLC by an astonishing 11,230.1% in the same period.
• Southern Company recently reported a quarterly earnings miss of $0.08 per share, with earnings at $0.91 despite revenue growing to $6.97 billion, exceeding expectations of $6.70 billion.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,946,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 230,936 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.18% of Southern worth $179,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after buying an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after buying an additional 979,756 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 1,747.3% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,785,000 after acquiring an additional 847,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho increased their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.29.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $95.24 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $91.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.65. The company has a market cap of $104.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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