Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 444,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,476 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $42,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $96.19 on Thursday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $93.98 and a 200-day moving average of $93.00. The firm has a market cap of $108.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

About Southern

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.