Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 82,946 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,619,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 82,946 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Southern worth $236,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth $302,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 32,249 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,908,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $674,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,667 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 7,588 shares during the period. Finally, United Capital Management of KS Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.7% in the third quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 5,597 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.50. 3,329,828 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,448,167. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $95.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.09. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.27.

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.