Belpointe Asset Management LLC Sells 3,203 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Belpointe Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Southern Company by 25.5%, selling 3,203 shares and currently holding 9,357 shares worth approximately $860,000.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares at an average price of $95, decreasing her ownership by 12.32%, with her remaining shares valued around $8.9 million.
• Southern Company's stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $94.92, despite recent adjustments from several analysts including BMO Capital Markets raising their target to $102.00.

Belpointe Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 25.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,357 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,203 shares during the quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $860,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Southern by 11,230.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Southern by 23.2% during the 4th 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 worth $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 1,747.3% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,785,000 after purchasing an additional 847,803 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho raised their price target 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 raised their price target 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Five 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 MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $92.27 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.74 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

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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