Bleakley Financial Group LLC Purchases 3,602 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,602 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Southern by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 1.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $614,297,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,107,000 after purchasing an additional 120,816 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $96.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.21 and a 200-day moving average of $92.18. The company has a market cap of $105.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.83.

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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. 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 research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.30.

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.