California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,309,713 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 49,107 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.12% of Southern worth $107,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 562.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Southern Stock Performance
Shares of SO stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $91.39. 5,319,675 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,471,255. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $90.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $74.64 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.
Southern Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.82%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.54.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on SO
Insider Activity
In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % 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 dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was 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 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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.
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