Columbus Macro LLC Buys 123 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Columbus Macro LLC increased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,352,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,672,000 after acquiring an additional 30,618 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% in the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Southern by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,670,000 after acquiring an additional 17,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $96.17 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $93.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $105.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $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, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Company 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.