Strs Ohio Has $23.15 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Strs Ohio decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 330,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,243 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Southern were worth $23,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $68.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,007,222.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,998 shares of company stock worth $1,446,113. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.07.

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.