Southern (NYSE:SO) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Southern Company (NYSE:SO) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday, trading at $96.73, with a total volume of approximately 1.32 million shares.
• Recent analyst reports show a mix of opinions, with Evercore ISI setting a price target of $103.00 while other firms like Mizuho and Morgan Stanley have rated the stock as "neutral" and lowered their target prices.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, providing an annualized dividend yield of 3.1%, and the dividend payout ratio currently stands at 76.09%.

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $96.73 and last traded at $96.62, with a volume of 1325848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Monday. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho lifted 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.77.

Southern Stock Up 1.3%

The firm has a market cap of $106.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. 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 50-day moving average of $93.47 and a 200-day moving average of $91.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,377,494,000 after purchasing an additional 241,572 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth about $1,179,715,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Southern by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Southern by 1.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $621,567,000 after purchasing an additional 87,891 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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