The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lowered its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,360 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. First American Trust FSB acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $319,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in Southern by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 56,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,638,000 after buying an additional 6,187 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 216,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,798,000 after acquiring an additional 5,171 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Southern Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.73 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $86.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.23. The company has a market capitalization of $96.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

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.