State of Michigan Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 298,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Southern were worth $21,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.14.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE SO opened at $77.55 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $80.84. The company has a market capitalization of $84.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

About Southern

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.