Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 33.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 210,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 80,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,376,000 after purchasing an additional 22,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $945,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.92.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $91.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.47 and a 200-day moving average of $91.07. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. 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 company has a market cap of $100.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.