Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $49.45 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 64.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 548,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 215,029 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Southern worth $49,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Southern stock opened at $84.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $92.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.45. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.00.

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.