Calton & Associates Inc. Invests $294,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Company during Q1, purchasing 3,194 shares valued at approximately $294,000.
• Southern Company reported earnings per share of $0.91 for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' estimates of $0.99, despite a revenue of $6.97 billion which exceeded expectations.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74, representing an annualized yield of 3.2% on a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 4.1% in the 1st 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 lifted its stake in Southern by 0.4% in the 1st 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. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 80,214 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,376,000 after acquiring an additional 22,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $945,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $91.79. 3,165,302 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,025,450. 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 $100.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $93.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.00.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Five equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

About Southern

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.