State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 9,895 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,895 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.2 %

SO stock opened at $77.72 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.75 and a 200-day moving average of $72.36. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Argus raised their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded 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 note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.