Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,069,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,038 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises about 0.9% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Southern were worth $180,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in Southern by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 415,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,214,000 after acquiring an additional 80,600 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $1,111,450,000. Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $220,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $17,019,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $1,800,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.38.

Southern Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $92.06 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $94.61 and its 200-day moving average is $91.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.36. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.