Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 264 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in Southern by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Southern by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 26,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,468,000 after purchasing an additional 11,368 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Southern by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Southern by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 17,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Southern by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 98,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,085,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Four research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.08.

Southern Stock Up 0.7%

SO stock opened at $94.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $104.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $93.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior 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. On average, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.