Southern Company (The) $SO Stock Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 16.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,034 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 3.7% during the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the first quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 3.3% during the second quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. reduced their target price on Southern from $96.50 to $85.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.50 price target on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.32.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $92.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.84. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $81.69 and a 52-week high of $99.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $8.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 16.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Sterling Spainhour, Jr. sold 3,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.81, for a total value of $306,002.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,453.66. This represents a 9.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Southern

Southern Company is an energy holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, it generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides natural gas service, primarily across the southeastern United States. Its electric utility businesses include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers in their respective states. Southern Company also owns Southern Power, which develops and operates wholesale power generation assets, and Southern Company Gas, whose businesses distribute natural gas to customers in several states.