Credit Agricole S A Increases Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A increased its stake in Southern Company by 8.5%, acquiring 25,290 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 321,244 shares valued at approximately $29.5 million.
• Southern Company reported a Q2 earnings miss with earnings per share at $0.91, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.99, but revenue was $6.97 billion, exceeding forecasts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, yielding 3.1%, with the payment date set for September 8th to shareholders of record on August 18th.

Credit Agricole S A increased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 321,244 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 25,290 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Southern were worth $29,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,003,419,000 after buying an additional 107,394 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $614,297,000 after buying an additional 81,066 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $510,229,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE SO traded down $0.88 during trading on Monday, hitting $93.60. The company had a trading volume of 658,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,152,566. 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 one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44. The company has a market cap of $102.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. The company's fifty day moving average is $92.96 and its 200-day moving average is $90.62.

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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.