Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 116 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 23.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.4% in the first quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $98.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.73. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $98.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. 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, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SO. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.