Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,893 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in Southern by 149.5% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 9,726 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 219.4% in the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $455,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $96.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.85 and its 200 day moving average is $84.23.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.