Optimize Financial Inc Invests $259,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Optimize Financial Inc has acquired a new stake in Southern Company, purchasing 2,816 shares valued at approximately $259,000.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern Company stock for a total of approximately $1.25 million, reducing her ownership position by 12.32%.
• Southern Company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.91, which missed analysts' expectations, though revenue rose by 7.9% year-over-year, reaching $6.97 billion.

Optimize Financial Inc bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 131,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,853,000 after acquiring an additional 10,481 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 2,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 123,466 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,164,000 after acquiring an additional 16,433 shares during the period. Meketa Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $767,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $2,050,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

Southern Trading Up 0.2%

Southern stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $92.27. The company had a trading volume of 4,074,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,559,401. 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 price is $93.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.