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

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,955,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 114,631 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up 1.0% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned 0.17% of Southern worth $188,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.62. 3,096,682 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,509,696. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week 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. The firm has a market cap of $107.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.09.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly 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. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

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.