World Investment Advisors Sells 2,002 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

World Investment Advisors lessened its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,002 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Southern were worth $1,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 18.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $245,000. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 2.4% in the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 33,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Southern by 3.3% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 73,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,726,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.9%

SO stock opened at $94.20 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $103.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.28 and a 200-day moving average of $92.47. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be 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 is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays set a $70.00 price target on Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.66.

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.