Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 8,165 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 2.8%, owning 302,992 shares valued at $27.82 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Southern Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.96 with a yield of 3.2%.
• Despite posting a revenue of $6.97 billion, Southern missed earnings expectations, reporting $0.91 EPS compared to the consensus estimate of $0.99.

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 302,992 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 8,165 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $27,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,672,000 after buying an additional 30,618 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Southern by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $24,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,111 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth $4,022,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $92.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,857,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,051,322. 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 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.49 and a 200-day moving average of $91.22. The firm has a market cap of $101.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

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.