Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY Grows Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its holdings in Southern by 1,428.6% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of SO opened at $95.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.31. The firm has a market cap of $105.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday. Barclays set a $70.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.30.

Southern Company 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.