Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 4,456 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,456 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Southern were worth $4,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded down $0.51 during trading on Monday, reaching $88.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,640,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,310,332. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $86.69 and a 200 day moving average of $87.24. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Company 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.