Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 2,511 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 14.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,511 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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 decreased their price objective 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, September 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of SO stock opened at $94.56 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.45 and a 200-day moving average of $91.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The firm has a market cap of $104.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.