Consolidated Planning Corp Cuts Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Consolidated Planning Corp trimmed its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 9.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,884 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SO. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $94.79 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $104.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business 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 fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.