Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Trims Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 65.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,607 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 70,212 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Southern were worth $2,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in Southern by 1,021.4% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 30.4% in the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.36.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $74.37. The stock had a trading volume of 6,164,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,720,948. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern's payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

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.