Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,456 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 154,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,721,000 after buying an additional 5,618 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Southern by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 355,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,306,000 after acquiring an additional 10,867 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in Southern by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 20,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.65 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern 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.