AXQ Capital LP Buys Shares of 13,974 Southern Company (The) $SO

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,324,000. Southern comprises approximately 0.5% of AXQ Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 120.1% during the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 309.5% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Truist Financial set a $103.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.64.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $95.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $104.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business 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. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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