Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Reduces Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 151,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,049 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.34. The company has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Southern 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.