Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. Buys 328 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the period. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $95.46 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $93.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.52. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $105.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.77.

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.