Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Buys 18,036 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 147,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,036 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. SCP Investment LP bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $548,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Southern by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,978,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,760,000 after purchasing an additional 18,841 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:SO opened at $89.44 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.03. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

Southern 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.