The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 38,862 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its Southern Company stake by 2.8%, selling 38,862 shares and retaining 1.35 million shares valued at approximately $129 million. Institutional investors collectively own 64.1% of the utility.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with seven Buy, eleven Hold, and two Sell ratings. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $100.09 versus the stock’s recent price of $87.29.
• Southern exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.13 in EPS versus the $1.01 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $6.98 billion. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.76, equivalent to a 3.5% annual yield.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,347,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 38,862 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.12% of Southern worth $128,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Southern by 9,736.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 125,596,883 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,020,878,000 after acquiring an additional 124,319,975 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,450,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth about $737,256,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Southern by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE SO opened at $87.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.33. The stock's 50 day moving average is $92.54 and its 200 day moving average is $94.07.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.90%.

About Southern

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an energy holding company that provides electricity and natural gas services through a group of regulated utility subsidiaries. Its electric utilities generate, transmit and distribute power to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while its gas businesses distribute natural gas and provide related energy services.

The company's principal electric subsidiaries include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power. Southern Company also operates Southern Nuclear, which manages the company's nuclear generation interests, including the Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia.

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