Balboa Wealth Partners Cuts Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Balboa Wealth Partners trimmed its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 10.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,219 shares during the quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $413,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 10.2% in the second quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 46.1% in the second quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 7.7% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its holdings in Southern by 13.6% in the second quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 6,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $97.80 on Monday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Cowen began coverage on Southern in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.83.

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.