Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by HF Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• HF Advisory Group LLC has increased its stake in Southern Company by 17.1%, acquiring an additional 4,303 shares, resulting in a total of 29,473 shares worth approximately $2.7 million.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares at $95.00 each, reducing her stake by 12.32% to around $8.9 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Southern Company, with a current average price target of $94.92 and five analysts rating it a Buy, while several others have given Hold and Sell ratings.

HF Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,473 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 4,303 shares during the period. Southern comprises 1.1% of HF Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. HF Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

Southern Stock Up 0.4%

SO traded up $0.41 on Friday, reaching $91.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,381,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,632,029. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $93.49 and its 200 day moving average is $91.20. The stock has a market cap of $101.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.