Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 79,420 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 70.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 191,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 79,420 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $14,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after buying an additional 33,120 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 8.8% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.64 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $98.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.16, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.72.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

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.