American National Bank & Trust Has $611,000 Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• American National Bank & Trust raised its stake in Southern Company by 217.4% in Q2, owning 6,649 shares worth $611,000.
• Southern Company reported Q2 earnings of $0.91 per share, missing expectations, but had revenue of $6.97 billion, exceeding analyst estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74, representing an annualized yield of 3.1%, and has a dividend payout ratio of 76.09%.

American National Bank & Trust lifted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 217.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,649 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,554 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust's holdings in Southern were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its stake in Southern by 1.1% in the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 23.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 1.9% in the first quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:SO opened at $94.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $104.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.30.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.

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