Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 104,798 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,715,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,798 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.16% of Southern worth $141,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $326,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after acquiring an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,033,000 after purchasing an additional 140,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. grew its stake in Southern by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $90.12 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.46.

Southern Company Profile

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.