Presper Financial Architects LLC Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Presper Financial Architects LLC bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of SO opened at $93.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $93.52 and a 200-day moving average of $91.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.