Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,242 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Southern were worth $17,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its stake in Southern by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 7,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 213,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,297,000 after buying an additional 9,689 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 40,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 31,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,871,000 after buying an additional 9,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,392,000 after buying an additional 7,694 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.00.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

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.