North Star Investment Management Corp. Decreases Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

North Star Investment Management Corp. reduced its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Southern were worth $768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake 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 buying an additional 107,394 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,297,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,107,000 after purchasing an additional 120,816 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $93.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.08.

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.