State of Tennessee Treasury Department Raises Position in Southern Co (SO)

State of Tennessee Treasury Department boosted its position in shares of Southern Co (NYSE:SO) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 266,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,247 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Treasury Department’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 18,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Southern by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 7,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Southern by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrow Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 1,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.76% of the company’s stock.

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A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. SunTrust Banks reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, November 8th. Mizuho reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday, December 11th. Zacks Investment Research raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 4th. Citigroup raised Southern from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.00.

Shares of SO traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $49.90. The stock had a trading volume of 51,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,781,495. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Southern Co has a 52 week low of $42.42 and a 52 week high of $50.54. The stock has a market cap of $52.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.19.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.88 billion. Southern had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern Co will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 15th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.18%.

In other Southern news, insider Mark Lantrip sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $1,633,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,779,771.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William P. Bowers sold 90,942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,419,781.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 177,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,604,289.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 132,942 shares of company stock valued at $6,481,501. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy facilities and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, Tennessee, and Maryland, as well as provides gas marketing services, wholesale gas services, and gas midstream operations.

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