Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 21.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,712 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $3,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. 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 research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $95.77.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of SO stock opened at $96.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $106.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.56. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. 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 predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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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