Gables Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Gables Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 354 shares during the quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in Southern by 24.7% in the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 1,982.6% in the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 5,353 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 35.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,672,000 after acquiring an additional 30,618 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in Southern by 6.8% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,670,000 after buying an additional 17,111 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cowen started coverage on Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $102.50 price objective (up previously from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.83.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $96.96 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.12 and a 200 day moving average of $92.08. The company has a market capitalization of $106.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.43. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.