FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 232,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 1.4% of FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 1.3 %

Southern stock opened at $88.72 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $97.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.99 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

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.