Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $26.25 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Southern Company by 53.0%, selling 322,439 shares, leaving them with 285,464 shares valued at approximately $26.25 million.
• Southern Company recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.91, missing the consensus estimate, but achieved a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.9% with total revenue of $6.97 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, set to be paid on September 8th, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.1%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 53.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,464 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 322,439 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $26,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Southern by 23.2% during the 1st 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 period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the first quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,000,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $945,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,815,000 after purchasing an additional 15,923 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.4050 on Thursday, reaching $94.5250. The company had a trading volume of 1,030,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,177,895. The business's 50-day moving average is $92.79 and its 200 day moving average is $90.37. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The business's quarterly 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.36.

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.