Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.30 Million Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 63.2%, owning 14,182 shares valued at approximately $1.30 million.
• Southern Company reported $0.91 EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates of $0.99, while its revenue rose 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for November 17th, yielding an annualized rate of 3.1%.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 63.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,182 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,492 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in Southern by 24.7% in the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 1,982.6% in the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 35.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,672,000 after purchasing an additional 30,618 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in Southern by 6.8% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $24,670,000 after buying an additional 17,111 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cowen started coverage on Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.30.

Southern Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $96.14 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.21 and a 200-day moving average of $92.18. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $105.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.43.

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 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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Southern'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, sell-side analysts forecast 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, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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