Southern Company (The) $SO is OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s 10th Largest Position

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,063 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 1.3% of OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.0% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 29,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in Southern by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 9,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 12.7% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after buying an additional 2,147 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.0% in the first quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the first quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 184,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,006,000 after acquiring an additional 2,343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.56.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.21 and its 200 day moving average is $92.49. The stock has a market cap of $100.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.300-4.30 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.540-0.540 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 73.27%.

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.