Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 6,222 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 240,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,222 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Southern were worth $16,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Southern by 3.6% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 66,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,342 shares during the period. Toews Corp ADV acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter worth about $751,000. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter worth about $285,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Southern by 10.3% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 445,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,851,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 57.1% in the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $73.50 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.50. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The company has a market capitalization of $80.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Company Profile

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.