Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Buys Shares of 101,084 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 101,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,874,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Karp Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Worth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,944.4% during the third quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 26.9% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.78% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.3 %

SO opened at $67.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $58.85 and a 1-year high of $80.57. The company has a market capitalization of $73.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 82.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Southern to $80.00 in a report on Monday, November 21st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Southern from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $85,381.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,832,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $85,381.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,832,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total transaction of $1,032,038.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at $8,569,766.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,680 shares of company stock worth $1,174,768. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Southern Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.