Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Southern Company by 10.9% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 198,404 shares valued at about $19.15 million.
• Southern’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.32 versus the $1.21 consensus and revenue of $8.40 billion topping estimates. Revenue also rose 8.0% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 3.1%, while analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating and a target price around $100.09.

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 10.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198,404 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 19,452 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Southern were worth $19,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Southern

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Southern’s Georgia Power subsidiary signed a long-term power agreement with OpenAI, which could support future electricity demand and reinforce the company’s role in powering AI data center growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced it is joining President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, highlighting a customer-first approach focused on rate stability, grid reliability, and responsible growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on near-term earnings, with Zacks saying Southern may have the right setup to beat upcoming results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its Q4 2026 EPS estimate to $0.60 from $0.55, but kept an Underweight rating and a $79 price target, so the update is mixed despite the higher forecast. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp also trimmed estimates for Southern’s Q3 2026, FY2028, FY2029, and FY2030 earnings, which may weigh on sentiment even though the changes were modest. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $97.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $109.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $94.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

Southern Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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