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

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 522,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 39,354 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Southern were worth $37,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,026 shares of company stock worth $2,151,644 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $83.12. 1,603,453 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,435,779. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $83.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.56. The firm has a market cap of $90.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Southern 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.