Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its stake in Southern Company by 3.5% in Q4, selling 11,315 shares and leaving it with 309,715 shares valued at about $27.0 million, while institutional investors own roughly 64.1% of the stock.
• Southern reported Q1 EPS of $0.55 (vs. $0.56 consensus) but beat on revenue at $6.98 billion (up 10.1% YoY); analysts' consensus rating is Hold with a $99.08 target price.
• The board increased the quarterly dividend to $0.76 (annualized $3.04, yield 3.2%, ex-dividend May 18), and insiders including CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold shares (25,000 by the CEO; 6,669 by an EVP) recently.

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 309,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,315 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Southern were worth $27,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 2.2%

Southern stock opened at $93.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $105.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company's 50-day moving average price is $95.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.19. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore raised shares of Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. KeyCorp raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

About Southern

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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