McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. Has $464,000 Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 23.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $363,000. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. CX Institutional now owns 8,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 67.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on SO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Southern in a report on Monday. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.31.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $98.23 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $93.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $98.36. 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 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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern’s payout ratio 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.