REAP Financial Group LLC Purchases 777 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 80.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 777 shares during the quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 275.0% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of SO stock opened at $96.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $106.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.43. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.56. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.74 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.77.

Southern 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.