Jump Financial LLC Sells 4,162 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC reduced its stake in Southern Company by 19.1%, selling 4,162 shares and holding a total of 17,581 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million.
• Southern Company's quarterly earnings missed consensus estimates, reporting $0.91 EPS against an expected $0.99, while revenue was $6.97 billion, exceeding forecasts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 to be paid on September 8th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 3.2%.

Jump Financial LLC trimmed its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 19.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,162 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its position in Southern by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.92.

Southern Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $91.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 779,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,080,154. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $93.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.91. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. 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 capitalization of $100.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. 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 that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.