National Pension Service Has $146.26 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,085,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,195 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Southern were worth $146,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Southern by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,691 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Southern by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

Southern stock traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.63. 6,695,041 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,845,418. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.82. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $77.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

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.