Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,398 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Southern by 125.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,059,000 after buying an additional 750,500 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Southern by 2,780.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,423,000 after buying an additional 676,302 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Southern by 40.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,789,000 after buying an additional 623,417 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.08.

Southern Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of SO stock opened at $94.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.47. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS 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 company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’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, sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.