The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Position Reduced by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,292,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 126,470 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.12% of Southern worth $90,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 5,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $232,000. Diversified LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 28,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,712,000 after buying an additional 4,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $217,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $73.38. The stock had a trading volume of 2,569,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,643,851. The company has a market cap of $80.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $69.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

About Southern

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.