Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 791,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 53,596 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $65,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Syverson Strege & Co raised its position in Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. First American Trust FSB purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $319,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in Southern by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 56,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,638,000 after purchasing an additional 6,187 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its position in Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 216,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,798,000 after purchasing an additional 5,171 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE SO opened at $87.73 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.23. The company has a market cap of $96.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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