Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 3,559 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 60.2%, acquiring an additional 3,559 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 9,470 shares valued at approximately $870,000.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock for over $1.25 million, resulting in a 12.32% decrease in her holdings.
• Southern Company's last quarterly earnings showed revenue of $6.97 billion, surpassing analyst expectations but reporting earnings per share of $0.91, which missed estimates by $0.08.

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 60.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,559 shares during the quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 125.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $124,059,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 40.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $198,789,000 after purchasing an additional 623,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 71.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $110,253,000 after purchasing an additional 499,996 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.31.

Southern Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of SO stock opened at $98.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.62 and a 200-day moving average of $91.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $98.36. The firm has a market cap of $108.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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