Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 82,946 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,619,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 82,946 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $236,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.8% in the 3rd 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 grew its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 0.9% during the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.71 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.99.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.