Sara Bay Financial Invests $370,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Sara Bay Financial has invested $370,000 in Southern Company by acquiring 4,025 shares of stock, as disclosed in a recent SEC filing.
• Southern Company reported a Q2 EPS of $0.91, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99, although revenue rose by 7.9% year-over-year to $6.97 billion.
• Analysts are generally optimistic about Southern Company, with several setting price targets around $98.00, while the stock carries a consensus rating of "Hold".

Sara Bay Financial bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho upped 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 upped 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, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.92.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $93.63 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $93.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.25. 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 one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44. The firm has a market cap of $102.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41.

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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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 research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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