The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,347,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 38,862 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Southern were worth $128,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $655,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after purchasing an additional 46,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:SO opened at $87.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.33. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.07.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

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.