56,100 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 56,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,415,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $97.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $109.35 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.