Dakota Wealth Management Sells 27,848 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Dakota Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 19.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 112,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 27,848 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Southern by 3.6% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in Southern by 4.2% during the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 165,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,160,000 after purchasing an additional 6,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays cut their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.64.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

SO stock opened at $95.11 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $88.94 and its 200 day moving average is $91.28. The company has a market capitalization of $104.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Southern has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.200-1.20 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.500-4.600 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 75.32%.

Southern Profile

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.