Energy Income Partners LLC Buys 382,629 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 35.9%, now owning approximately 1.45 million shares valued at about $133.2 million.
• Southern Company recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.91 per share, missing analyst expectations, despite a 7.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, translating to a yield of 3.2%, to be paid on September 8th.

Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 35.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,448,826 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 382,629 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up about 2.5% of Energy Income Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Energy Income Partners LLC owned 0.13% of Southern worth $133,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after buying an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 4th 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 worth $428,794,000 after buying an additional 979,756 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1,747.3% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,785,000 after buying an additional 847,803 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Thursday, reaching $91.87. The stock had a trading volume of 3,430,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,079,560. The company has a market capitalization of $101.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.91. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The business's revenue 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp downgraded 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.92.

About Southern

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.