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

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Southern Company by 4.3%, owning approximately 0.07% of the company valued at $73.9 million after selling 36,145 shares in Q2.
• Southern Company reported $0.91 EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.08, with revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, up 7.9% year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, reflecting a 3.0% dividend yield based on an annualized rate of $2.96.

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 804,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 36,145 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of Southern worth $73,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 24.7% in the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% in the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 35.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,672,000 after acquiring an additional 30,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Southern by 6.8% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $24,670,000 after acquiring an additional 17,111 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 0.0%

SO opened at $99.67 on Thursday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $93.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays set a $70.00 target price on Southern in a report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.54.

About Southern

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.