Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 54,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investors Research Corp lifted its position in Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $92.27 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $93.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.15.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Southern 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.