Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Financial Security Advisor Inc.

Financial Security Advisor Inc. increased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Financial Security Advisor Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $40,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $96.11 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.64. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.79. The company has a market capitalization of $105.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.77.

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.