Bank of Nova Scotia Raises Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 198,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,452 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares during the period. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,443,000. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its stake in shares of Southern by 243.3% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 20,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,753 shares during the period. Bell Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 127,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 21,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

More Southern News

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Southern’s Georgia Power subsidiary signed a long-term power agreement with OpenAI, which could support future electricity demand and reinforce the company’s role in powering AI data center growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced it is joining President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, highlighting a customer-first approach focused on rate stability, grid reliability, and responsible growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on near-term earnings, with Zacks saying Southern may have the right setup to beat upcoming results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its Q4 2026 EPS estimate to $0.60 from $0.55, but kept an Underweight rating and a $79 price target, so the update is mixed despite the higher forecast. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp also trimmed estimates for Southern’s Q3 2026, FY2028, FY2029, and FY2030 earnings, which may weigh on sentiment even though the changes were modest. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $97.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $109.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.44 and its 200 day moving average is $93.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

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.