State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 5,793 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 117,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,793 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Southern by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Southern by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 92,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,512,000 after buying an additional 26,769 shares in the last quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $515,000. Integrity Alliance LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at about $1,083,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 3.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Southern from $107.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.21.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $87.00 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.50 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

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.