Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp Boosts Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,297,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,107,000 after acquiring an additional 120,816 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $94.79 on Thursday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $93.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.40. 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 earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.