Valmark Advisers Inc. Increases Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,584 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $96.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $105.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.77.

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.