Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Has $244,000 Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 247 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 27,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its stake in Southern by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 4,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1,953.8% in the 2nd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.92.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

SO opened at $91.53 on Friday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. 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 company has a market capitalization of $100.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $93.50 and a 200-day moving average of $91.17.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company 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.