Davis Capital Management Cuts Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

06 Jun 2025, 09:24 by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat Gem

Davis Capital Management lowered its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 23.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,885 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,288,000 after buying an additional 194,114 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of SO opened at $88.28 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.96 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.64.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on SO

Southern Profile

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