Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by APG Asset Management N.V.

Key Points

• APG Asset Management N.V. has reduced its stake in Southern Company by 28.6% after selling 93,256 shares, leaving it with 233,356 shares valued at approximately $19.86 million.
• The quarterly earnings report revealed earnings per share of $0.91, missing estimates, though revenue grew 7.9% year-over-year to $6.97 billion.
• Southern Company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 3.1% with a payout ratio of 76.09%.

APG Asset Management N.V. cut its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 28.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 233,356 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 93,256 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V.'s holdings in Southern were worth $19,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.36.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,089,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,382,743. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $93.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.38. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). The business 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%. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 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.