62,071 Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,430,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 62,071 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.21% of Southern worth $201,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $737,256,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $264,829,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $191,120,000. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $166,114,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $157,217,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.50 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.24.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $93.70 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.35. The stock has a market cap of $107.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern Company has a one year low of $81.69 and a one year high of $99.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.90%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.