Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 11.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 432,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 57,203 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Southern were worth $39,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 11,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 15,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,434,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 154,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,180,000 after buying an additional 2,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $95.62 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.36. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $105.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue 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. As a group, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research began coverage on Southern in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Southern in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.66.

Southern 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.