Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 60.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,559 shares during the period. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.31.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $98.23 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $108.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.73. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $98.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm 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 expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 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.