Liberty Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Liberty Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $40,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $94.78 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.50 and its 200 day moving average is $91.38. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.