280,009 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Purchased by Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC

Key Points

• Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC has acquired a new stake in Southern Company, purchasing 280,009 shares valued at approximately $25.7 million.
• Southern Company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, yielding about 3.1%, with a dividend payout ratio of 76.09%.
• Despite a revenue increase of 7.9% year-over-year, Southern reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91 for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.08.

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 280,009 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $25,747,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Investors Research Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $1.2460 during trading on Monday, hitting $93.2340. The stock had a trading volume of 2,559,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,604,726. The business has a fifty day moving average of $93.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.68. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The firm has a market cap of $102.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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 the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.