Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Grows Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern Company by 0.3%, owning approximately 1,031,949 shares valued at $94.88 million after acquiring an additional 3,004 shares.
• Southern Company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91 for the last quarter, below the consensus estimate of $0.99, while revenue increased by 7.9% year-over-year.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, translating to a 3.2% annualized yield, with the ex-dividend date set for August 18.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,031,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,004 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Southern worth $94,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 39.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $945,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company'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 sale, 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 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.

Southern Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of SO traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $90.91. 3,703,381 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,067,469. The firm has a market cap of $100.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $93.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.05.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern's dividend payout ratio 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.