Southern Company (The) $SO Position Boosted by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 584,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Southern worth $53,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.50 price objective (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.83.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $97.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.99. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $107.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.