Drive Wealth Management LLC Buys 688 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in Southern by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.0%

Southern stock opened at $97.80 on Tuesday. 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 cap of $107.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.05. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates 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% 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, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern’s payout ratio is 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays set a $70.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.83.

Southern Company 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.