Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Sells 1,287 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC trimmed its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,287 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at about $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 125.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,059,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 40.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,789,000 after purchasing an additional 623,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 71.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,253,000 after purchasing an additional 499,996 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price target (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Southern in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Cowen began coverage on Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.66.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.94 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.40. The company has a market cap of $103.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.43. 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 twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 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.