Bath Savings Trust Co Cuts Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Bath Savings Trust Co decreased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.9% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 19,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 19.5% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 52,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,800,000 after purchasing an additional 8,536 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 44.2% during the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 4,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 25,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 158,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,588,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on SO. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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 transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $91.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $100.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $93.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.17.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

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.