MAI Capital Management Purchases 13,746 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• MAI Capital Management has increased its holdings in Southern Company shares by 6.6%, acquiring an additional 13,746 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total investment to $20.48 million.
• Southern Company faces mixed analyst ratings, with five analysts rating it as a Buy, seven giving it a Hold, and one a Sell, alongside an average price target of $94.92.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 3.2% for investors of record on August 18th.

MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 222,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 13,746 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management's holdings in Southern were worth $20,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $510,229,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Southern by 11,230.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in 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. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 1,747.3% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $73,785,000 after purchasing an additional 847,803 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Five investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.92.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded up $0.21 during trading on Thursday, reaching $91.87. 2,268,962 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,078,748. The company's 50-day moving average is $93.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.91. The company has a market cap of $101.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). 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%.Southern's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 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 in the company, 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 through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.