Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Cuts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 791,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 53,596 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Southern worth $65,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.73 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $96.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.23. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company Profile

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.