Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,486,295 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 45,313 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.23% of Southern worth $228,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP increased its position in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.29.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.7340 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.9140. The stock had a trading volume of 5,556,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,563,341. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The stock has a market cap of $104.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.40, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.37. 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 posted its quarterly 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). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

About Southern

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.