Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Cresset Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 23.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,170 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP raised its holdings in Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $94.9140 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.