Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 55,185 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 609,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 55,185 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Southern were worth $55,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern’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. On average, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to 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.