Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $12.08 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lessened its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 133,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,175 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Southern by 31.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew 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 valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at about $52,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $88.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $89.70 and a 200 day moving average of $84.86. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

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.