South Dakota Investment Council Trims Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Southern by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 6,303.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,812 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 8,375.3% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 849,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,989,000 after acquiring an additional 839,621 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,480,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,558,000 after acquiring an additional 485,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $74.13. 3,279,937 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,668,535. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.23 and a 200-day moving average of $69.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.13%.

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.