Ardent Capital Management Inc. Sells 140 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Ardent Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. Ardent Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in Southern by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp increased its position in Southern by 1,982.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,672,000 after purchasing an additional 30,618 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in Southern by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,111 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $97.80 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $94.06 and its 200 day moving average is $92.05. The company has a market capitalization of $107.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.83.

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.