Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Reduces Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. decreased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 56,823 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 94,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,721,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its position in shares of Southern by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 44,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 5,323 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 89,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,796 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 37,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,432,000 after purchasing an additional 10,537 shares during the period. Finally, M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 31.6% during the 2nd quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. now owns 7,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.85.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $99.80 on Wednesday. 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 Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $99.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.78 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.85.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The business’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. On average, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.