State of Michigan Retirement System Cuts Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

State of Michigan Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Abel Hall LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.95 on Wednesday. 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 Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.68 and a 200-day moving average of $86.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % 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, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was 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 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.