Waycross Partners LLC Invests $14.56 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Waycross Partners LLC has invested $14.56 million by purchasing 158,554 shares of Southern Company, making it the 29th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Southern Company recently reported earnings of $0.91 per share for the last quarter, missing analysts' estimates, but showing a 7.9% year-over-year revenue increase to $6.97 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, representing a 3.2% yield, with a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Waycross Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 158,554 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,560,000. Southern comprises approximately 1.4% of Waycross Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

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

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.63 on Wednesday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $93.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.25. The company has a market cap of $102.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders 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 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.