Bleakley Financial Group LLC Acquires 3,602 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,602 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Southern by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,003,419,000 after acquiring an additional 107,394 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $614,297,000 after acquiring an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,107,000 after acquiring an additional 120,816 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of SO stock opened at $96.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.21 and a 200-day moving average of $92.18. 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 Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $105.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The company’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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.30.

Southern 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.