Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management reduced its stake in Southern Company by 8.7%, selling 452,171 shares and now holds approximately 4.76 million shares valued at $437.4 million.
• Southern Company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.08, despite revenue of $6.97 billion, which exceeded expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of 76.09%.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lessened its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,756,701 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 452,171 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned about 0.43% of Southern worth $437,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth $259,000. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Southern by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 92,569 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,512,000 after buying an additional 26,769 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Southern by 17.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,127,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 2.7% in the first quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 8,010 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $339,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Southern Trading Up 0.2%

SO stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $92.27. 4,074,939 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,559,401. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.11. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $101.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.92.

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.