Compound Planning Inc. Sells 29,182 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Compound Planning Inc. cut its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 57.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,182 shares during the quarter. Compound Planning Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $103,342,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.64.

Southern Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $95.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.28. The stock has a market cap of $105.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $100.83. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Southern has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.200-1.20 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.500-4.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.