First Trust Advisors LP Has $71.71 Million Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in Southern Company by 9.4% in the first quarter, selling 77,189 shares and leaving it with 742,958 shares valued at about $71.7 million.
• Southern has drawn mixed analyst sentiment: the stock’s average rating is Hold with an average price target of $100.09, while KeyCorp cut its rating to underweight and lowered its target to $79.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reported strong revenue growth, and announced a $0.76 quarterly dividend that implies a 3.1% annual yield.

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 742,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 77,189 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.07% of Southern worth $71,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter worth $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.09.

Key Stories Impacting Southern

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Southern’s Georgia Power subsidiary signed a long-term power agreement with OpenAI, which could support future electricity demand and reinforce the company’s role in powering AI data center growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced it is joining President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, highlighting a customer-first approach focused on rate stability, grid reliability, and responsible growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on near-term earnings, with Zacks saying Southern may have the right setup to beat upcoming results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its Q4 2026 EPS estimate to $0.60 from $0.55, but kept an Underweight rating and a $79 price target, so the update is mixed despite the higher forecast. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp also trimmed estimates for Southern’s Q3 2026, FY2028, FY2029, and FY2030 earnings, which may weigh on sentiment even though the changes were modest. Article Title

Southern Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $97.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock's 50-day moving average is $94.44 and its 200-day moving average is $93.69. The company has a market cap of $109.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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