Diversified Trust Co Sells 9,398 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Diversified Trust Co reduced its stake in Southern Company by 35.5% during the second quarter, selling 9,398 shares, leaving them with a total holding valued at approximately $1.57 million.
• Assenagon Asset Management significantly increased its stake by 71.4%, now owning over 1.2 million shares valued at about $110.25 million, while other investors also adjusted their holdings in Southern Company.
• Southern Company reported $0.91 earnings per share in its latest quarterly earnings, which was below the consensus estimate of $0.99, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 with a yield of 3.2%.

Diversified Trust Co reduced its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 35.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,398 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Southern were worth $1,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $3,079,000. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $1,284,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $9,007,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,542,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $245,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer 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 this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of SO traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $92.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,569,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,935,855. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $101.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $93.48 and a 200 day moving average of $91.23.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut 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 given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

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.