GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Has $31.79 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 345,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,622 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 1.8% of GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $31,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 31,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Alamar Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the first quarter worth $211,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Southern by 13.9% during the first quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 14,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 35.9% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,448,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,220,000 after buying an additional 382,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH acquired a new position in Southern during the first quarter worth $565,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.92.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $92.34 on Monday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $101.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $93.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.