Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $2.57 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,149 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its stake in Southern by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 11,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $145,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 113,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,330,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 4,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 70,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,829,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $85.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.84. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upped 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. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

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.