Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 65.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 70,212 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 23,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 16,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 43,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,841,000 after buying an additional 7,273 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $73.92 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The company has a market cap of $80.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. Southern’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

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.