Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 113,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,017 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,034,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial raised its holdings in Southern by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 4,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore upgraded SO from “in-line” to “outperform” and set a $111 price target (~13.5% upside vs. the recent price). The upgrade signals increased conviction from a sell‑side shop and likely lifted buying interest. Street Insider
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its multi‑year earnings outlook for Southern — notably boosting FY2029 to $5.76/share (from $5.52) and lifting FY2026–FY2030 estimates across the board — which implies stronger future cash flow and supports higher valuation multiples. These upward revisions can justify more bullish price targets and help underpin the stock. MarketBeat
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp left a “Sector Weight” rating on SO despite raising EPS forecasts; that suggests the firm is more confident in underlying earnings trends but not ready to move to an outright buy stance, so the impact may be more measured than a full‑throated upgrade. MarketBeat

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Evercore upgraded Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.08.

Southern Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $97.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.32%.

Southern Company 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.