Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,166,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $98.44 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.95. The stock has a market cap of $108.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.84. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.57.

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.