Vest Financial LLC Buys 10,537 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,537 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.85.

Southern Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of SO opened at $99.80 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $99.81. The firm has a market cap of $109.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.85. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’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, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. 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 is presently 76.09%.

About Southern

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.