Southern Company (The) $SO Stake Boosted by Savvy Advisors Inc.

Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 116.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,683 shares during the quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its stake in Southern by 1,428.6% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cowen started coverage on Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. BTIG Research started coverage on Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.66.

Southern Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.20 on Friday. The stock 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.47. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $100.83. 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 (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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