Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 864,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 82,300 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Southern were worth $83,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stokes Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds LLC. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 11,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $97.84 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore upgraded Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

Southern 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.