Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,487 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.2% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,107,000 after buying an additional 120,816 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.31.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $98.23 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.74. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $98.36. The company has a market cap of $108.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share 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 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 dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern’s dividend 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.