Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Has $2.76 Million Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 62.9%, holding 30,062 shares worth approximately $2.76 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Southern Company reported a Q2 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, missing the expected $0.99, despite revenues of $6.97 billion surpassing estimates.
• Southern Company will distribute a quarterly dividend of $0.74 on September 8th, with a dividend yield of 3.2%.

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 62.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 11,611 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $510,229,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Southern by 23.2% in the fourth 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 valued at $428,794,000 after buying an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade 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 the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of SO opened at $91.79 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $93.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.05. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $96.44. The company has a market capitalization of $100.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last 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, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

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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