DRW Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 17,103 Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• DRW Securities LLC has acquired 17,103 new shares in Southern Company, valued at approximately $1.57 million, indicating growing interest from institutional investors.
• Southern Company reported a miss in earnings for the most recent quarter, posting $0.91 earnings per share, below the consensus estimate of $0.99, despite exceeding revenue expectations.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, reflecting a 3.2% yield, with an upcoming payment for investors of record on August 18th.

DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,103 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,573,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 23.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,000,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in Southern by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 80,214 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,376,000 after buying an additional 22,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $945,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.45 on Wednesday, hitting $91.64. The stock had a trading volume of 3,444,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,197,218. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $100.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The company's 50 day moving average price is $93.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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 stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.