Bell Bank Lowers Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Bell Bank reduced its holdings in Southern Company by 16.3% in the second quarter, now owning 104,638 shares valued at approximately $9.6 million.
• Southern Company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91 for the latest quarter, falling short of analyst estimates of $0.99, while revenues increased by 7.9% year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a yield of 3.2%.

Bell Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 104,638 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 20,435 shares during the period. Bell Bank's holdings in Southern were worth $9,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of SO stock opened at $91.86 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.19. 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 company has a market cap of $101.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.41.

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). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company'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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.

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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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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