Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,030 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,030 shares during the period. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,672,000 after buying an additional 30,618 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% during the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 5,353 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in Southern by 6.8% during the 2nd 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 23.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.56 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $104.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $93.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.48. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.08.

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.