KPP Advisory Services LLC Has $1.05 Million Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 117 shares during the quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. acquired a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.8% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,670,000 after buying an additional 17,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,005 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $94.56 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $104.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. 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 forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.