waypoint wealth counsel Increases Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

waypoint wealth counsel grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 283 shares during the quarter. waypoint wealth counsel’s holdings in Southern were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 275.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.31.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $98.23 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.73. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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. On average, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.