Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 7,492 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Southern Company by 12.8%, selling 7,492 shares and ending with 51,207 shares valued at approximately $4.7 million.
• Southern Company reported a quarterly earnings miss of $0.91 per share, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.99, though revenue increased by 7.9% year-over-year to $6.97 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.1% and a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,492 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Southern were worth $4,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at about $1,877,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Southern by 2.7% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,926,456 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $177,138,000 after buying an additional 50,182 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Southern by 3.3% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 9,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.29.

Southern Stock Down 0.6%

SO stock traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $94.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,148,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,395,827. The firm's 50-day moving average is $91.95 and its 200-day moving average is $89.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $96.44. The company has a market cap of $104.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% 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.