Ferguson Shapiro LLC Purchases Shares of 4,305 Southern Company (The) $SO

Ferguson Shapiro LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Southern by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 149,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,740,000 after buying an additional 3,233 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Tevis Investment Management purchased a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC boosted its position in Southern by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 3,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.94 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $94.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.40. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $103.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price objective (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.66.

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.