Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires Shares of 13,631 Southern Company (The) $SO

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 13,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,305,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 1.3%

Southern stock opened at $90.10 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $103.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s payout ratio is 72.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Seven 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

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.