Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Southern Company by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter, holding 365,195 shares valued at $33.7 million after selling 121,603 shares.
• Southern Company reported an EPS of $0.91 for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.08, despite a revenue increase of 7.9% year-over-year to $6.97 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.0% and a dividend payout ratio of 76.09%.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 365,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 121,603 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $33,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 125.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $124,059,000 after acquiring an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 40.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $198,789,000 after acquiring an additional 623,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Southern by 71.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $110,253,000 after purchasing an additional 499,996 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $99.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $93.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.90. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. Cowen started coverage on Southern in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Barclays set a $70.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.54.

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.

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