California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,008,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 31,985 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.46% of Southern worth $412,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.82. 4,175,381 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,501,822. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $87.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.46.

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.