Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Acquires 6,822 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC has increased its stake in Southern Company by 4.6%, acquiring an additional 6,822 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 154,550 shares worth approximately $14.2 million.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern Company stock for over $1.25 million, reducing her ownership by 12.32% to 93,661 shares.
• Southern Company has received upward revisions in price targets from multiple analysts, with BMO Capital Markets increasing its target from $98 to $102 and maintaining an "outperform" rating.

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC boosted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,550 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,822 shares during the quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $14,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,672,000 after acquiring an additional 30,618 shares during the last quarter. Investors Research Corp raised its position in Southern by 1,982.6% during the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Southern by 6.8% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $24,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,111 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,022,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern 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 value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.08.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of SO opened at $94.54 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.33.

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). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Southern 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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