Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 115 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.66.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $94.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $103.62 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.