Invesco LLC Has $1.40 Million Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Invesco LLC raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the quarter. Invesco LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,284,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Southern by 99.8% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 5,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Southern by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 9,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 1,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,690,000 after buying an additional 1,936,965 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

SO opened at $94.54 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 fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $93.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 3.27 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents 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 the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.08.

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.