State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 400 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 297,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Southern were worth $24,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WMG Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 298.9% in the 4th quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 11,176 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $219,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,302,000 after buying an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its position in Southern by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 13,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,091,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Auxano Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,835 shares of company stock valued at $1,451,754 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.95 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.94. The company has a market capitalization of $98.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

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.