Ethic Inc. Acquires 4,600 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its position in Southern Company by 17.3%, owning 31,176 shares valued at approximately $2.86 million after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares in the first quarter.
• Southern Company reported earnings of $0.91 EPS, missing forecasts, but had a revenue of $6.97 billion, exceeding consensus estimates of $6.70 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.1%, with an ex-dividend date of August 18th.

Ethic Inc. increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 17.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,176 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $2,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its position in Southern by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in Southern by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.29.

Southern Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.7340 during mid-day trading 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $92.79 and a two-hundred day moving average 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. The company has a market capitalization of $104.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44.

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). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last 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, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern 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.