Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,276,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 39,725 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Southern were worth $123,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.21.

Southern Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $96.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $108.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.94.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

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.