California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 771,087 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 26.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,098,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 771,087 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Southern were worth $202,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Southern by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $655,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after purchasing an additional 46,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Southern by 2.7% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.91.

Southern Trading Down 0.8%

SO opened at $95.33 on Friday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.19 and a 200-day moving average of $93.40. The stock has a market cap of $107.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 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 (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio 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.