Grant Private Wealth Management Inc Takes $5.58 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Grant Private Wealth Management Inc has acquired 60,811 shares of Southern Company, valued at approximately $5.58 million, making it the 11th largest position in their portfolio.
• Recent analyst ratings show a mix of opinions on Southern Company, with BMO Capital Markets raising the price target to $102 while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to a "sell" rating.
• Southern Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, representing an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a yield of 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Grant Private Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 60,811 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,584,000. Southern accounts for approximately 3.2% of Grant Private Wealth Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on SO. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.

Southern Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of SO traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $93.53. 1,942,463 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,055,417. The firm has a market cap of $102.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $93.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.23.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Company 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.