Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Makes New $3.52 Million Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired 38,230 shares of Southern Company, valued at approximately $3.5 million, during the first quarter of the year.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company, reducing her ownership by 12.32% and resulting in a total remaining stock value of $8.9 million.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Southern Company, with ratings ranging from Buy to Sell, and an average consensus price target of $94.92.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 38,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,515,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Research Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

Southern Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:SO traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $90.91. The company had a trading volume of 3,703,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,976,359. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $93.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.07. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. 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 posted 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 return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company's 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Southern 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.