Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.8%, holding a total of 444,273 shares valued at approximately $40.8 million after purchasing an additional 28,166 shares.
• Southern Company's recent earnings report revealed an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, missing analysts' expectations of $0.99, while revenues increased 7.9% year-over-year to $6.97 billion.
• Southern Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74, with a yield of 3.1%, set to be paid on September 8th to shareholders recorded on August 18th.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 444,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 28,166 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Southern were worth $40,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,000,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $945,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,815,000 after purchasing an additional 15,923 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.6%

SO traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $94.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,252,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,203,507. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business's 50-day moving average is $92.38 and its 200-day moving average is $90.09. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The stock has a market cap of $103.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SO. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.29.

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.