Leslie Global Wealth LLC Makes New $311,000 Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Leslie Global Wealth LLC has made a new investment in Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by acquiring 3,379 shares valued at approximately $311,000 during the first quarter.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 76.09%.
• Southern Company reported $0.91 EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates, but revenue increased by 7.9% year-over-year, totaling $6.97 billion.

Leslie Global Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,379 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% in 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 81,066 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $510,229,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.36.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $0.1760 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $94.4440. The stock had a trading volume of 3,304,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,604,726. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $92.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.62. 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 company has a market cap of $103.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.