Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has increased its stake in Southern Company by 3.1%, now holding 450,033 shares valued at approximately $41.2 million.
• Southern Company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, which provides an annualized yield of 3.1% and will be paid on September 8th.
• Analysts have mixed views on Southern Company, with ratings ranging from two "sell" ratings to four "buy" ratings, and a consensus price target set at $94.29.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 450,033 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,391 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in Southern were worth $41,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.2% during 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 stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $428,794,000 after buying an additional 979,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $0.7340 on Wednesday, hitting $94.9140. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,556,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,204,792. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $92.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.34. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The stock has a market cap of $104.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. 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, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.29.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.