Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys 24,564 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 9.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 289,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,564 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $26,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,003,419,000 after buying an additional 107,394 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,297,000 after buying an additional 81,066 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $510,229,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Southern by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.92.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $91.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $100.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.07. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. 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, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. 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 that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.