Kennebec Savings Bank Boosts Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Kennebec Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 67.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 373 shares during the quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $85,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 75,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its stake in Southern by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 20,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 69.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC grew its stake in Southern by 79.5% during the 2nd quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 9,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 4,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $680,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.08.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $94.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $93.49 and a 200 day moving average of $91.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. 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.