Southern Company (The) $SO Stock Holdings Boosted by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 767,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 2.9% of Welch Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $70,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Dover Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $290,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. 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, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $98.23 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $93.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.74. The company has a market cap of $108.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $98.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.