Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC Lowers Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 9.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Southern by 125.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,059,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Southern by 2,780.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,423,000 after purchasing an additional 676,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Southern by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,789,000 after purchasing an additional 623,417 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.08.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $94.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $104.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.49 and a 200-day moving average of $91.40. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. 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 expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

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.