Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Trust Co

Charles Schwab Trust Co raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 211.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,633 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective 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, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.08.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $94.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $104.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.32.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The business’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 analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.