The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 65.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 70,212 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its position in shares of Southern by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $73.92 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.92 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.