Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,386,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,853 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Southern were worth $133,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.21.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $96.94 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $94.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.88. The stock has a market cap of $109.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.