Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Reduces Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. reduced its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 1,021.4% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,998 shares of company stock worth $1,446,113. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.14.

Southern Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:SO opened at $68.73 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $75.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.93.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. Southern’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Southern 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.