Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,151 shares during the period. Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,003,419,000 after buying an additional 107,394 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.2% during 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 buying an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $428,794,000 after buying an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $92.27 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.13. The stock has a market cap of $101.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 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 analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last 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. On average, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.92.

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.