Eventide Asset Management LLC Has $44.69 Million Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 47.5%, acquiring an additional 156,717 shares, resulting in total holdings valued at approximately $44.7 million.
• Southern Company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a yield of 3.2%.
• Despite a revenue increase of 7.9% year-over-year, Southern reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.99.

Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 47.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 486,762 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 156,717 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $44,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Investors Research Corp lifted 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $90.91. 3,703,358 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,068,339. 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 Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $93.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.05. The company has a market capitalization of $100.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern's revenue 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by 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.