Belpointe Asset Management LLC Sells 1,031 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Belpointe Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,031 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $2,352,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 30,618 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Southern by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,111 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of SO opened at $96.17 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $93.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.59. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.79. The stock has a market cap of $105.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 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 quarterly earnings results 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.