Southern Company (The) $SO Holdings Raised by Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 11,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,651,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,450,000 after purchasing an additional 33,533 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the second quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 71,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,571,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.4% during the second quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 204,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,785,000 after buying an additional 12,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longview Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the second quarter. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SO. BTIG Research began coverage on Southern in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.30.

Southern Stock Down 0.3%

SO opened at $95.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $105.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $94.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.24. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. 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 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). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’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, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Southern Company 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.