Seven Grand Managers LLC Takes $27.59 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Seven Grand Managers LLC has acquired a new stake in Southern Company, purchasing 300,000 shares valued at approximately $27.6 million, making it the fund's 4th largest holding.
• Southern Company reported earnings of $0.91 per share, which fell short of analysts' expectations of $0.99, but showed a 7.9% revenue increase from the same quarter last year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74, with a yield of 3.1%, and the dividend will be paid to shareholders on September 8th.

Seven Grand Managers LLC bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 300,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $27,585,000. Southern accounts for approximately 6.4% of Seven Grand Managers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Investors Research Corp increased its position in Southern by 400.0% during the 1st 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 Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP grew its holdings in Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.29.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $1.3210 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $94.1710. The stock had a trading volume of 4,690,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,202,545. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $103.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $92.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.31.

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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during 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%. Southern's 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 forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is 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.