Biondo Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Biondo Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 2.6%, acquiring an additional 3,508 shares, bringing their total to 136,866 shares valued at approximately $12.6 million.
• Southern Company reported a miss in earnings with $0.91 EPS, below the expected $0.99, despite revenues exceeding estimates at $6.97 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.1%, set to be paid on September 8th.

Biondo Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,866 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,508 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises approximately 1.8% of Biondo Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $12,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $510,229,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,747.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.36.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock traded down $1.2460 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $93.2340. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,559,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,604,726. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $93.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38.

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 net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Southern's 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, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

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.