State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $32.76 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 375,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,584 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Southern were worth $32,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,034,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Southern by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its position in Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 6,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Southern

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat on both EPS and revenue — adjusted EPS came in at $1.32 versus ~$1.21 consensus, and revenue was $8.40B vs. $8.26B expected; margins and ROE improved year-over-year, supporting near-term earnings quality. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Higher power demand helped drive the beat and improved results, a cyclical tailwind that boosts near-term utility cash flow and earnings. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term guidance shows continued growth: FY2028 EPS range of 5.25–5.45 suggests management expects continued earnings expansion beyond near-term variability (supports long-horizon investor thesis).
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/target upgrades and estimate tweaks — small lift from Erste and a Wells Fargo price-target increase signal modest analyst support following results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Company released slides and conference materials for the quarter; useful for modeling regulatory drivers, rate cases and capital spend but no new regulatory news in the release. Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Deeper metrics analyses are available that compare Q1 results to estimates and last year; useful for modeling but not headline-moving by themselves. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term guidance was slightly cautious — FY2026 EPS guidance of 4.50–4.60 has a midpoint a hair below consensus (~4.57) and Q2 guidance of 1.00 is below the ~1.02 estimate, leaving limited upside for the rest of the year if demand softens.
• Negative Sentiment: Relative-valuation/peer concerns: some analysts favor peers (e.g., Vistra) due to cheaper valuation or more aggressive clean-energy investments, which could limit multiple expansion for SO. Article Title

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $96.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $109.06 billion, a PE ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.32%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.