waypoint wealth counsel Increases Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

waypoint wealth counsel increased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the quarter. waypoint wealth counsel’s holdings in Southern were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Southern by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 108,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,964,000 after buying an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 24.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 1,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 23.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 2.2%

SO opened at $98.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $93.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.73. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $98.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid 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 3.0%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.31.

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.