Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Trims Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 471,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,607 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Southern were worth $38,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $88.42. 1,002,994 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,489,945. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.23. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.64 and a 12-month high of $94.45. 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 company has a market cap of $97.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.21.

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.