The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,411,097 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 64,275 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.13% of Southern worth $127,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Southern by 3.8% in the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.74. The company had a trading volume of 3,483,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,439,474. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. 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's fifty day moving average price is $89.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.97. The firm has a market cap of $98.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company 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%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company'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 transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company'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 $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank boosted 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.47.

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.