Simon Quick Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,640 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $245,000. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 33,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,037,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Southern by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 73,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,726,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.66.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $94.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $103.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.47. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend 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%.

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.