Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by 1832 Asset Management L.P.

Key Points

• 1832 Asset Management L.P. reduced its shares in Southern Company by 26.9%, selling over 207,000 shares during the first quarter.
• Southern Company's stock recently reported $0.91 EPS in its quarterly earnings, falling short of estimates, while revenue increased by 7.9% year-over-year.
• The company declared a $0.74 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 76.09%.

1832 Asset Management L.P. lowered its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 26.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 565,687 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 207,861 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. owned 0.05% of Southern worth $52,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp boosted its stake in Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $94.4440 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $103.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business'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 earned $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. Equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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