Second Half Financial Partners LLC Buys Shares of 3,761 Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Second Half Financial Partners LLC acquired 3,761 shares of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), valued at approximately $345,000, during the 2nd quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest in the stock.
• Southern Company reported Q2 earnings of $0.91 per share, missing analyst expectations of $0.99, while also showing a 7.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a dividend of $0.74 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.0% and a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Second Half Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Southern by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $96.31.

Southern Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE SO opened at $98.23 on Friday. 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's fifty day moving average price is $93.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.73. The company 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. 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 stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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