Whittier Trust Co. Has $138,000 Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the first 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 stake in Southern by 1.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $614,297,000 after buying an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,107,000 after buying an additional 120,816 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $95.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $94.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.24. 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 firm has a market cap of $105.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. Research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Cowen began coverage on Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. BTIG Research began coverage on Southern in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 target price (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.30.

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.