Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 499,996 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Southern Company by 71.4%, acquiring nearly 500,000 additional shares, bringing its total holdings to over 1.2 million shares valued at approximately $110 million.
• Southern Company reported earnings of $0.91 per share for the last quarter, falling short of analyst expectations, although revenue rose to $6.97 billion, surpassing estimates.
• The firm recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of approximately 76.09%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 71.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 499,996 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.11% of Southern worth $110,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Southern by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 258,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $23,708,000 after acquiring an additional 16,786 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $462,000. Trust Point Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 10,640 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,468 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 29,473 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,706,000 after acquiring an additional 4,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's 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 approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.6%

SO traded up $0.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $92.37. 5,569,546 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,073,250. The stock has a market cap of $101.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $93.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.22. 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 (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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 was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price 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, Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

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.