Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 61,771 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 50.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 61,771 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Southern were worth $14,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position 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 worth $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of SO opened at $90.52 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $90.59. The stock has a market cap of $98.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $86.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.10.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Southern Profile

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.