Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Purchases 33,436 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 30.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,436 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Southern were worth $13,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $510,229,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $428,794,000 after acquiring an additional 979,756 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,747.3% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,785,000 after acquiring an additional 847,803 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of SO stock opened at $94.1710 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The company has a market capitalization of $103.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $92.68 and its 200 day moving average is $90.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.29.

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.