Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 156,702 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 76.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 360,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 156,702 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Southern were worth $29,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of SO traded down $1.15 on Tuesday, reaching $87.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,912,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,309,209. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $86.83 and a 200-day moving average of $87.23.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.46.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Company Profile

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.