Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Southern Company by 29.4% in Q1, holding 18,751 shares valued at $1.724 million.
• Southern Company reported earnings of $0.91 EPS in its last quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 EPS but achieving revenue of $6.97 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.1%.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 29.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,751 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,261 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $1,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,003,419,000 after acquiring an additional 107,394 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $614,297,000 after acquiring an additional 81,066 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $510,229,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after acquiring an additional 979,756 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.36.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $94.4440 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $92.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.57. The firm has a market cap of $103.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous 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. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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