West Tower Group LLC Makes New $413,000 Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• West Tower Group LLC has made a new investment of $413,000 in Southern Company, acquiring 4,500 shares during the second quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Southern Company, with target prices ranging from $98.00 to $103.00, following a downgrade to "sell" by Wall Street Zen.
• Southern Company reported earnings of $0.91 per share in its last quarter, missing expectations, despite revenue of $6.97 billion exceeding estimates.

West Tower Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI started coverage on Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Cowen initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.83.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $97.80 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. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $94.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.99. The company has a market cap of $107.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.43.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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