Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 328,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,157 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Southern were worth $30,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 107,394 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,107,000 after buying an additional 120,816 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $95.11 on Friday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.44. The firm has a market cap of $104.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.300-4.30 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.540-0.540 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI started coverage on Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.66.

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.