Cullinan Associates Inc. Boosts Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its stake in Southern Company by 8.3%, holding a total of 125,152 shares valued at approximately $11.49 million.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares for over $1.25 million, reducing her ownership by 12.32% to 93,661 shares.
• Southern Company reported Q2 earnings of $0.91 per share, missing expectations, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.74, yielding approximately 3.1%.

Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 9,543 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $11,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in Southern by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.08.

Southern Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $94.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $104.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $93.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $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 anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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