Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by CreativeOne Wealth LLC

Key Points

• CreativeOne Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Southern Company by 37.6%, now holding 22,442 shares valued at approximately $2.06 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Southern Company, including Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec, which boosted its stake by 4,825.1%.
• Southern Company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, representing an annualized amount of $2.96 and a dividend yield of 3.2%.

CreativeOne Wealth LLC lowered its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 37.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,526 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Southern by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 762 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 267,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,052,000 after buying an additional 97,619 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Southern by 4,825.1% in the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 166,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,732,000 after buying an additional 163,426 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 27,962 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 95,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,878,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $92.34. 3,227,614 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,489,137. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $93.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern 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 directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.

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.