Gables Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Gables Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. Gables Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Southern by 23.2% in the first 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 last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Southern by 63.3% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 11.0% in the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 12,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Southern by 5.9% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 514,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,277,000 after purchasing an additional 28,643 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE SO opened at $96.96 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $94.12 and its 200 day moving average is $92.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $106.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.83.

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.