New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 6,553 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 798,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,553 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Southern worth $75,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,377,494,000 after acquiring an additional 241,572 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $621,567,000 after purchasing an additional 87,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.3%

SO stock opened at $87.00 on Friday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.50 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.96.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 73.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.21.

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.