Capital World Investors Boosts Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Posted by Brian Himes on Jun 7th, 2026

Capital World Investors grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Southern were worth $3,587,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Southern by 3.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,628,000 after purchasing an additional 285,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Southern by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,265,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,938,000 after purchasing an additional 255,230 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southern

Southern Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $92.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.26 and a 200 day moving average of $91.83. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Company Profile

(Free Report)

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.