Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 215,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 63,930 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 275.0% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its position in Southern by 1,428.6% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $95.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $94.28 and a 200-day moving average of $92.44. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $104.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.300-4.30 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.540-0.540 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.66.

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.