New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 46,423 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,140,278 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 46,423 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.10% of Southern worth $104,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Elequin Capital LP raised its holdings in Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.20.

Southern Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.81 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.28. 2,399,130 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,720,061. The stock has a market cap of $102.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.26 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.