Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 316,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,126 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Southern were worth $27,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $94.15 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $94.07 and a 200 day moving average of $91.91. The stock has a market cap of $106.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Southern Company Profile

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.