Bayforest Capital Ltd Acquires 3,047 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd significantly increased its holdings in Southern Company by 295.5%, acquiring an additional 3,047 shares, bringing its total ownership to 4,078 shares worth $375,000.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares at an average price of $95.00, reducing her stake in the company by 12.32%.
• Southern Company recently posted earnings results showing an EPS of $0.91, missing the consensus estimate by $0.08, while reporting a revenue increase of 7.9% year-over-year.

Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 295.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,078 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 3,047 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Southern by 23.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 0.4% during the first quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,000,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in Southern by 39.1% during the first quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 80,214 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,376,000 after buying an additional 22,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Southern during the first quarter worth $945,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:SO opened at $91.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.48 and a 200-day moving average of $91.07. The company has a market cap of $100.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business 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%.The company's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, 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 target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.92.

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.

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