GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 4,226 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 19.9% in Q2, owning 25,479 shares valued at $2.34 million.
• Southern Company reported a Q2 earnings miss of $0.91 per share, falling short of the $0.99 consensus estimate, but saw revenue increase by 7.9% year-over-year.
• Southern declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 76.09%.

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,226 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Southern by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,003,419,000 after acquiring an additional 107,394 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $614,297,000 after acquiring an additional 81,066 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at about $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $280,107,000 after buying an additional 120,816 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.6%

SO traded up $0.57 during trading on Monday, hitting $92.37. 5,569,546 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,935,855. 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 market cap of $101.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.23.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Southern's revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.