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

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 798,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,553 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Southern were worth $75,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Advantage Trust Co raised its stake in Southern by 1,428.6% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth $34,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 309.5% in the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.21.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a PEG 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. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.50 and a 52 week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 73.27%.

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.