Pullen Investment Management LLC Sells 409 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Pullen Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 409 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 1.6% of Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Southern by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Southern by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 191,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,592,000 after acquiring an additional 6,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brian Low Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $240,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on SO shares. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.30.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $95.86 on Friday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $105.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.25 and a 200 day moving average of $92.28. 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 data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Southern’s 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. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 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.