Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Diversified Enterprises LLC

Key Points

• Diversified Enterprises LLC increased its stake in Southern Company (SO) by 11.6% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 4,602 shares and bringing its total holdings to $4,076,000.
• Analysts have mixed views on Southern Company, with four rating it a Buy while others have cut it from "hold" to "sell"; the stock has an average target price of $95.08.
• Southern Company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91 for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.08, despite a revenue increase of 7.9% year-over-year.

Diversified Enterprises LLC increased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,602 shares during the period. Diversified Enterprises LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $4,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $94.54 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $93.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $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, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

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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