Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Has $379,000 Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Southern Company by 98.3%, selling 231,338 shares and leaving it with only 4,120 shares valued at approximately $379,000.
• Southern Company reported Q2 earnings of $0.91 EPS, missing analysts' estimates of $0.99, despite a revenue increase of 7.9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.1% and a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 98.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,120 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 231,338 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Southern were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 778,774 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,109,000 after acquiring an additional 133,908 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,440,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $200,943,000 after acquiring an additional 64,328 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 78,697 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,478,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 987,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $81,304,000 after acquiring an additional 24,393 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently 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 dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.36.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.1760 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $94.4440. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,304,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,592,975. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $92.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.57. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during 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 company'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 business 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, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

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.