Avion Wealth Sells 886 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Avion Wealth lowered its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 75.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 886 shares during the period. Avion Wealth’s holdings in Southern were worth $26,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its holdings in Southern by 1,428.6% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth about $36,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.30.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $96.14 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $105.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.18.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. 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.