Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan Acquires 9,107 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan raised its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 6.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 150,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,107 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan’s holdings in Southern were worth $14,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,381,344,000 after acquiring an additional 384,860 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Southern by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,380,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,895,000 after purchasing an additional 392,210 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 1.0%

SO stock opened at $88.18 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.12 and its 200-day moving average is $94.38. The firm has a market cap of $101.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

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.