Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 288,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 27,880 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Southern were worth $27,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $655,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after buying an additional 46,504 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after acquiring an additional 13,392 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $94.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.33. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

About Southern

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.