Ascent Group LLC Boosts Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Southern Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.56 on Monday. 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 50 day moving average price is $93.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.48. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43.

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). 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 the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern’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, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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