Monument Capital Management Buys Shares of 4,059 Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Monument Capital Management has acquired a new position in Southern Company by purchasing 4,059 shares, valued at approximately $373,000.
• Southern Company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, missing analysts' expectations, but saw a 7.9% year-over-year revenue increase to $6.97 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, which yields 3.0%, with a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Monument Capital Management purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 125.4% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $124,059,000 after buying an additional 750,500 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $198,789,000 after buying an additional 623,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $110,253,000 after buying an additional 499,996 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of SO stock opened at $98.23 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $98.36. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $93.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.71.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern's quarterly revenue 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. Equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $96.31.

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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