Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Buys 6,155 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 59,056 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $5,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 35.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,672,000 after buying an additional 30,618 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp increased its holdings in Southern by 1,982.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in Southern by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $24,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 23.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.08.

Southern Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $94.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $104.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.45 and a 200-day moving average of $91.48. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company's quarterly 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the 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 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.

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