Fulton Bank N.A. Sells 4,046 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Fulton Bank N.A. reduced its stake in Southern Company by 13.7%, now holding 25,580 shares valued at approximately $2.35 million.
• Southern Company's CEO, Kimberly S. Greene, sold 13,158 shares at an average price of $95.00, marking a 12.32% decrease in her holdings.
• Research firms have updated their price targets for Southern Company, with BMO Capital Markets raising it from $98.00 to $102.00, while others have maintained a mix of "Buy," "Hold," and "Sell" ratings.

Fulton Bank N.A. decreased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,046 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.'s holdings in Southern were worth $2,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,099 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $833,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $299,000. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Southern by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 19,086 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Southern by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 52,275 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,800,000 after purchasing an additional 8,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its stake in shares of Southern by 44.2% during the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 4,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:SO traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $92.34. 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. The firm has a market cap of $101.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $93.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.22. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $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, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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 was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern 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 in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

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.