Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. Acquires 328 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 30,618 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% in the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Southern by 6.8% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,111 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $95.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The company has a market capitalization of $105.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $93.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.52.

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 analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $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. On average, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.77.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.