Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Has $5.18 Million Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. trimmed its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,117 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its stake in Southern by 1.1% during the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 4.4% in the first quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 0.4% in the first quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $97.80 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $94.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $107.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $100.83.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 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.