Southern (NYSE:SO) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Southern Company's stock price reached a new **52-week high** of $98.42 during trading, with a last trade at $98.19 and a volume of over 2 million shares exchanged.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on the stock, with **four giving a "Buy" rating**, nine a "Hold" rating, and one a "Sell" rating, while the consensus target price is set at **$96.31**.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of **$0.74 per share**, reflecting an annualized yield of **3.0%**, despite a dividend payout ratio of **76.09%**.

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $98.42 and last traded at $98.19, with a volume of 2101619 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $98.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.31.

Southern Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $107.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $93.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $1,179,715,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $510,229,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Company 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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