Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 12,533 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,533 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Southern were worth $14,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. Bollard Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 340,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,101 shares during the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 11,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.3% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 446,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. FCA Corp TX boosted its holdings in Southern by 6.8% in the first quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 15,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 4.7% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,172,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.7%

Southern stock opened at $97.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.69. The firm has a market cap of $109.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Key Headlines Impacting Southern

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Southern’s Georgia Power subsidiary signed a long-term power agreement with OpenAI, which could support future electricity demand and reinforce the company’s role in powering AI data center growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced it is joining President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, highlighting a customer-first approach focused on rate stability, grid reliability, and responsible growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on near-term earnings, with Zacks saying Southern may have the right setup to beat upcoming results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its Q4 2026 EPS estimate to $0.60 from $0.55, but kept an Underweight rating and a $79 price target, so the update is mixed despite the higher forecast. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp also trimmed estimates for Southern’s Q3 2026, FY2028, FY2029, and FY2030 earnings, which may weigh on sentiment even though the changes were modest. Article Title

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.