Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 2,511 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,511 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 5,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group boosted its holdings in Southern by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 8,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 26,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,468,000 after buying an additional 11,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $236,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents 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 available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $94.56 on Friday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.46. The firm has a market cap of $104.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.08.

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.