Blair William & Co. IL Buys 795 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. 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 research note on Thursday, September 25th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.31.

Southern Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:SO opened at $98.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.73. 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 Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $98.36. The company has a market cap of $108.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

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.