Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 16,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,331,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 133,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,129,000 after buying an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 18,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 10,243 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $1,169,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 45,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 7,768 shares during the period. Finally, OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 91.4% during the 4th quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 173,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,292,000 after purchasing an additional 82,890 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $85.58 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.23. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.64 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $94.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.07.

About Southern

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.