GWN Securities Inc. Has $8.54 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

GWN Securities Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 41.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,215 shares during the period. Southern makes up about 1.6% of GWN Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. GWN Securities Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Southern by 125.4% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,059,000 after buying an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 40.5% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,789,000 after acquiring an additional 623,417 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 71.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,253,000 after acquiring an additional 499,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $95.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.36. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $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. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays set a $70.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $107.00 target price on Southern in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.66.

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.