Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Southern Company by 3.3%, selling 5,989 shares to bring its total to 175,832 shares valued at approximately $16.17 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Southern Company, with notable purchases including a 400% increase by Investors Research Corp and significant investments from multiple other firms during the first quarter.
• Southern Company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, set to be paid on September 8th, representing an annualized amount of $2.96 and a yield of 3.1%.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,989 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $16,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Investors Research Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st 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 bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company'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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,089,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,382,743. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $96.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.71.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

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.