Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC has reduced its stake in Southern Company by 35.4%, selling 3,082 shares and holding 5,622 shares worth approximately $516,000.
• Several large investors have actively adjusted their positions, with Nuveen LLC acquiring a new position worth about $510 million and Vanguard Group Inc. increasing its holdings by 1.4%.
• Southern Company reported a net margin of 15.10% and $6.97 billion in revenue for the last quarter, missing earnings estimates by $0.08 with reported EPS of $0.91.

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC cut its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,082 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth about $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 125.4% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $124,059,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 40.5% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $198,789,000 after purchasing an additional 623,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 71.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $110,253,000 after purchasing an additional 499,996 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. 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 report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $98.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.62 and a 200 day moving average of $91.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $108.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $98.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

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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