Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Has $730,000 Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.9% in the first quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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 value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.08.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $94.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.54 and a 200-day moving average of $91.32. The firm has a market cap of $104.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.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 posted $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. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

About Southern

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.