Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 387 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 235,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Southern were worth $21,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 16.2% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 21,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,005,000 after buying an additional 3,040 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 9.0% during the second quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.6% during the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 129,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,889,000 after buying an additional 12,388 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 36,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,352,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Management Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc. now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $94.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.47. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.300-4.30 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.540-0.540 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Southern to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.66.

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.