Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Decreases Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 66.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 69,073 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Southern by 0.8% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 94,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,721,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its position in Southern by 13.6% during the second quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 44,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 5,323 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 5.6% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 89,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,796 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Southern by 39.3% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 37,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,432,000 after purchasing an additional 10,537 shares during the period. Finally, M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 31.6% during the second quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. now owns 7,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays set a $70.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.85.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were 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 directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $99.80 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $99.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.77 and a 200-day moving average of $91.85.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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