State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $30.87 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 36.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 397,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 226,222 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Southern were worth $30,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $631,068,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,457,000 after acquiring an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Southern by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,572,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,528,000 after purchasing an additional 452,075 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $96.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.91 and a 200-day moving average of $77.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.