Hilltop Holdings Inc. Lowers Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Hilltop Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 22.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,849 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after acquiring an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Key Stories 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 Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of SO opened at $97.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $94.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.69. The firm has a market cap of $109.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 77.35%.

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.