Cohen Investment Advisors LLC Sells 362 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 6.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.77.

Insider Activity at Southern

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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $96.17 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $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, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.