Maridea Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Maridea Wealth Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Southern Company, purchasing 16,440 shares valued at approximately $1.51 million in the second quarter.
• In its latest quarterly report, Southern Company reported earnings of $0.91 per share, missing estimates by $0.08, although revenue of $6.97 billion exceeded expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a yield of 3.1%.

Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,510,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $94.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $103.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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). The firm 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 business'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. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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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