Cullinan Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 125,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,543 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Southern by 125.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,059,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Southern by 2,780.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,423,000 after acquiring an additional 676,302 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Southern by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,789,000 after buying an additional 623,417 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.56 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $104.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $93.45 and its 200-day moving average is $91.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for 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%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors 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 yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.08.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.