BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Reduces Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S has reduced its holdings in Southern Company by 33.5%, selling 48,776 shares to a total of 97,032 shares valued at approximately $8.92 million.
• Southern Company reported quarterly earnings of $0.91 EPS, missing analyst expectations, but achieved a revenue of $6.97 billion, exceeding the consensus estimate.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.1%, with an upcoming payment date of September 8th.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S decreased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 33.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 48,776 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Southern were worth $8,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. HC Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. HC Advisors LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors raised its position in Southern by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 5,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Bank OZK raised its position in Southern by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank OZK now owns 36,150 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 3,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgar Lomax Co. VA increased its stake in shares of Southern by 61.1% in the 1st quarter. Edgar Lomax Co. VA now owns 323,835 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,777,000 after buying an additional 122,815 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.36.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.8890 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $93.5910. The company's stock had a trading volume of 658,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,152,566. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $92.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 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 return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. On average, research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. 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.