Integrity Alliance LLC. Sells 6,604 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Integrity Alliance LLC. reduced its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,604 shares during the quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC.’s holdings in Southern were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 24.7% during the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,171,000 after buying an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp grew its stake in Southern by 1,982.6% in the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 35.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,672,000 after purchasing an additional 30,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in Southern by 6.8% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,111 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $94.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $103.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $100.83.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Southern in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.66.

Southern 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.