Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by Exchange Capital Management Inc.

Exchange Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,672,000 after acquiring an additional 30,618 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth about $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp grew its position in Southern by 1,982.6% in the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Southern by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,670,000 after buying an additional 17,111 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern 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 transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $94.56 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.02 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.45 and its 200-day moving average is $91.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior 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. Equities 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 paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased 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. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.08.

Southern Company 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.