Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 119,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,800 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Southern by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $103,342,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:SO opened at $88.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern Company has a one year low of $82.69 and a one year high of $100.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.72.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.91.

Southern Profile

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.