Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 225,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 262 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $16,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,945,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,288,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.50.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $79.86. 3,542,549 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,531,347. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $80.84. The company has a market cap of $87.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,026 shares of company stock valued at $2,151,644. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.