Integrity Alliance LLC. Buys New Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Integrity Alliance LLC purchased 11,783 shares of Southern Company, valued at approximately $1,083,000, during the first quarter, highlighting growing institutional interest in the stock.
• Southern Company reported a missed earnings estimate for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $0.91, below the expected $0.99, but revenue increased by 7.9% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74, translating to an annual yield of 3.2%, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Integrity Alliance LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,083,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $92.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.10. The company has a market cap of $101.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's 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, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company 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 company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

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