Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC Sells 158 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC reduced its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Southern by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 80,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,376,000 after purchasing an additional 22,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $945,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $90.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $100.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $93.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.07. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $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. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.