Drake & Associates LLC Raises Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Drake & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 15.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the quarter. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.77.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $95.46 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. 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 $93.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’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, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 76.09%.

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.