Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 1,780 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,780 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in Southern by 24.7% in the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% in the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,672,000 after buying an additional 30,618 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Southern by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 268,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,670,000 after buying an additional 17,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $102.50 price target (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.66.

Southern Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $95.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $104.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $94.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.300-4.30 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.540-0.540 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given 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 (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.