Element Capital Management LLC Invests $2.82 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Element Capital Management LLC acquired 30,623 shares of Southern Company, valued at approximately $2.8 million, making it the fund's 9th largest holding.
• Southern Company's quarterly earnings report revealed earnings of $0.91 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99, though revenue was up to $6.97 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 3.1%.

Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,816,000. Southern makes up approximately 0.7% of Element Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, 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 objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO traded up $0.7340 on Wednesday, reaching $94.9140. The company had a trading volume of 5,556,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,563,341. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $92.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.37.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for 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 business'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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. 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%.

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.