Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc.

Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 240 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 11,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,651,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $243,450,000 after acquiring an additional 33,533 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Southern by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 71,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,571,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its position in Southern by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 204,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,785,000 after acquiring an additional 12,314 shares during the period. Finally, Longview Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price objective (up previously from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.30.

Southern Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $95.86 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a market cap of $105.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.