LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Sells 1,142 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,142 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,672,000 after purchasing an additional 30,618 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 1,982.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Southern by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $94.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.47. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.02 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.08.

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.