Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Old Port Advisors

Key Points

• Old Port Advisors reduced its stake in Southern Company by 20.5%, selling 5,902 shares in the second quarter, now holding 22,903 shares valued at approximately $2.1 million.
• Southern Company's CEO, Kimberly S. Greene, sold 13,158 shares at around $95.00 each, reducing her ownership by 12.32% while retaining 93,661 shares valued at nearly $8.9 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Southern Company, with price targets ranging from $95.00 to $102.00 and an average rating of "Hold", with consensus EPS projections of 4.29 for the current year.

Old Port Advisors cut its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,902 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors' holdings in Southern were worth $2,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth $510,229,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,965 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 125.4% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $124,059,000 after acquiring an additional 750,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2,780.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,628 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,423,000 after acquiring an additional 676,302 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related 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 transaction 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 SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.08.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Southern stock opened at $94.54 on Friday. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $93.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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 forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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