Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,334,017 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 142,744 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.21% of Southern worth $203,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.85.

Southern Trading Down 2.4%

SO opened at $93.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.36. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business's 50 day moving average price is $95.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.97.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 75.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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