Essex LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Essex LLC cut its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 628 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, 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. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.85.

Southern Stock Up 1.7%

Southern stock opened at $99.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $99.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business 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, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.