Focus Partners Wealth Lowers Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth reduced its stake in Southern Company by 2.0% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 0.12% of the company, valued at $116.98 million.
• Southern Company has been recently downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, representing a 3.2% yield, with a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Focus Partners Wealth cut its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,272,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 25,957 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned about 0.12% of Southern worth $116,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 400.0% during the first 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 period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $91.25 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The stock has a market cap of $100.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.07.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern's quarterly 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

About Southern

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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