The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 64,275 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

by · The Markets Daily

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,411,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 64,275 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Southern were worth $127,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.33 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.94. 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 – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.47.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Southern

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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