Neo Ivy Capital Management Purchases New Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO

Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 44,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,195,000. Southern makes up approximately 1.0% of Neo Ivy Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 4,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore upgraded Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $103.00 price target on Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.08.

Key Stories Impacting Southern

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore upgraded SO from “in-line” to “outperform” and set a $111 price target (~13.5% upside vs. the recent price). The upgrade signals increased conviction from a sell‑side shop and likely lifted buying interest. Street Insider
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its multi‑year earnings outlook for Southern — notably boosting FY2029 to $5.76/share (from $5.52) and lifting FY2026–FY2030 estimates across the board — which implies stronger future cash flow and supports higher valuation multiples. These upward revisions can justify more bullish price targets and help underpin the stock. MarketBeat
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp left a “Sector Weight” rating on SO despite raising EPS forecasts; that suggests the firm is more confident in underlying earnings trends but not ready to move to an outright buy stance, so the impact may be more measured than a full‑throated upgrade. MarketBeat

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $97.75 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $90.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.32%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.