Sound Income Strategies LLC Acquires 7,887 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Sound Income Strategies LLC significantly increased its ownership in Southern Company by 244.0%, acquiring an additional 7,887 shares to total 11,119 shares valued at approximately $1,021,000.
• Southern Company recently reported earnings of $0.91 per share for the last quarter, missing estimates of $0.99, while revenue hit $6.97 billion, surpassing expectations.
• Southern has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 244.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,119 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,887 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 125.4% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $124,059,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2,780.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,628 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,423,000 after purchasing an additional 676,302 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 623,417 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $93.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $103.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business 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. Sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $95.08.

Southern 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.

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