AlphaStar Capital Management LLC Invests $525,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

AlphaStar Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 275.0% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $36,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.66.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.20 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $103.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.300-4.30 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.540-0.540 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $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 dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Southern Company 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.