Rafferty Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Southern Company by 19.8%, holding 98,600 shares valued at approximately $9.07 million after selling 24,411 shares in the latest quarter.
• Southern Company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, representing a 3.2% dividend yield, with an ex-dividend date set for August 18.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for Southern Company, with BMO Capital Markets increasing its target from $98.00 to $102.00 and five analysts currently rating the stock as a Buy.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 19.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 98,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 24,411 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $9,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 8.5% during the first quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 521,795 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,979,000 after buying an additional 41,050 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Southern by 99.2% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 332,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,550,000 after purchasing an additional 165,428 shares during the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP lifted its stake in Southern by 17.9% during the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 10.9% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,886,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $173,498,000 after purchasing an additional 186,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $25,747,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.92.

Southern Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:SO opened at $92.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 3.19 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 Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.