Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Has $1.24 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA lessened its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on SO shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $98.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $108.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.62 and a 200 day moving average of $91.73. 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 fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $98.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous 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, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 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.