Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 444,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,476 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $42,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages recently commented on SO. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.26.
Southern Stock Performance
SO stock opened at $96.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.00. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $108.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65.
Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southern Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.
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.
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