SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. Acquires New Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO

SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $700,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 66,609 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,808,000 after purchasing an additional 3,604 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 257,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,419,000 after purchasing an additional 32,516 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 266,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,277,000 after purchasing an additional 5,732 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $319,000. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,513,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore upgraded Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.38.

Southern Trading Down 0.5%

Southern stock opened at $92.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.61 and a 200-day moving average of $91.84. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $103.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

Southern Profile

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.