MetLife Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Southern Company by 1.9%, selling 5,423 shares and decreasing its total to 284,576 shares valued at $26.17 million.
• Southern Company reported a quarterly earnings miss with an EPS of $0.91, falling short of analyst estimates of $0.99, while its revenue increased by 7.9% year-over-year to $6.97 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, yielding 3.1%, which will be paid on September 8th to shareholders of record as of August 18th.

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 284,576 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,423 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $26,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Southern by 10.9% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,886,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $173,498,000 after buying an additional 186,106 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $25,747,000. Cadence Bank raised its stake in shares of Southern by 7.1% in the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 15,220 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 14.0% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 25,714 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 29.4% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 18,751 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 4,261 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of SO opened at $94.4440 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 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. The stock's 50 day moving average is $92.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.57. The firm has a market cap of $103.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.36.

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.

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