New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,138,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,504 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Southern were worth $104,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC now owns 3,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 424,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000,000 after purchasing an additional 7,242 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 9,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Southern by 4.2% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 161,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in Southern by 9.5% during the first quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 target price (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.03.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $90.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $99.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.73 and its 200 day moving average is $92.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.27%.

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.