Signal Advisors Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Southern Company by 106.0% in Q2, acquiring an additional 4,113 shares, bringing their total to 7,992 shares valued at $734,000.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with five giving it a Buy rating, seven a Hold rating, and one a Sell rating, and a consensus price target of $94.92.
• Southern Company reported a Q2 EPS of $0.91, missing the consensus estimate by $0.08, while its revenue grew 7.9% year-over-year, totaling $6.97 billion.

Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 106.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,992 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,113 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.3% in the second quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 16,439 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.6% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 92,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.1% in the second quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,849 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.3% in the second quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 6,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.8% in the second quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $92.37. The stock had a trading volume of 5,569,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,935,855. 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 50 day simple moving average of $93.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.23. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. 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 (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business's quarterly 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.