Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $5.94 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 82,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,436 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Southern were worth $5,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 278,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,007,000 after buying an additional 41,161 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $88,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Southern by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 30,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 3,293 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $1,168,000. Finally, Huber Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 25,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 4,391 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.6 %

SO stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.17. 4,010,104 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,083,865. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $79.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $89.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $83.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,026 shares of company stock valued at $2,151,644 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.