Bank of Hawaii Sells 3,242 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Bank of Hawaii has reduced its stake in Southern Company by 10.4% to a position valued at $2.57 million, holding 27,936 shares after selling 3,242 shares in the first quarter.
• Southern Company reported a $0.91 EPS, missing analysts' expectations, but achieved a revenue of $6.97 billion, exceeding consensus estimates.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, representing an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a yield of 3.1%, with an ex-dividend date set for August 18th.

Bank of Hawaii trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,936 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,242 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaii's holdings in Southern were worth $2,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during 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 last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.36.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.24 on Wednesday, reaching $93.33. 3,089,900 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,382,743. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.38. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $93.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.71. 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 released 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Southern'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. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by 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.