Venturi Wealth Management LLC Sells 201 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 201 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $363,000. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 7,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Southern by 2,780.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,423,000 after purchasing an additional 676,302 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Southern by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. CX Institutional now owns 8,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $96.17 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.59. The stock has a market cap of $105.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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. Research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’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 value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.77.

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.