OneAscent Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,063 shares during the period. Southern makes up about 1.3% of OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at about $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Southern by 125.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,059,000 after acquiring an additional 750,500 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,789,000 after acquiring an additional 623,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,253,000 after acquiring an additional 499,996 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $90.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $100.13 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. Equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SO. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday. 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, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given 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 $99.56.

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.