Dakota Wealth Management Reduces Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Dakota Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 9,099.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares during the period. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $103,342,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.9%

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

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.64.

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.