Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,392 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,672,000 after buying an additional 30,618 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% in the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Southern by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.56 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $93.45 and a 200-day moving average of $91.48. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Southern’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $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, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SO. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.08.

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.