The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $112.57 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,367,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 43,597 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.12% of Southern worth $112,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 2,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 76,952 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,940,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 106.4% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 5,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,361,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.39. 5,319,675 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,471,255. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $74.64 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $100.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's fifty day moving average is $90.02 and its 200 day moving average is $87.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 73.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.