Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,191,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 80,272 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $207,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,414,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,084,885,000 after purchasing an additional 510,080 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,377,494,000 after buying an additional 241,572 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $621,567,000 after acquiring an additional 87,891 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 9,099.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373,271 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $96.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.35. The firm has a market cap of $106.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that 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 will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on Southern and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $103.00 price target on Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.64.

Southern Company 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.