Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 283,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,524 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Southern were worth $21,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 382.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its position in Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.
Insider Activity
In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Southern Stock Performance
SO stock traded down $1.10 on Friday, reaching $88.41. 4,614,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,469,961. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $90.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.
Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.
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.
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