CW Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• CW Advisors LLC significantly increased its stake in Southern Company by 76.4% during the first quarter, owning a total of 31,035 shares valued at approximately $2.83 million.
• Several analysts have issued new ratings for Southern Company, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $94.36.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91 for the recent quarter, missing analysts' expectations, despite a revenue increase of 7.9% year-over-year.

CW Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 76.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,035 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,438 shares during the quarter. CW Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 23.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the first quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth $945,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,815,000 after purchasing an additional 15,923 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.36.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $94.4440 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. The company's fifty day moving average price is $92.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.57. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern's payout ratio 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.

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