Inceptionr LLC Acquires New Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 17,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,628,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 118,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,260,000 after purchasing an additional 3,279 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors raised its position in shares of Southern by 35.0% in the third quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 3,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.6% in the third quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 125,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,882,000 after buying an additional 3,322 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Southern by 78.7% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 47,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,420,000 after acquiring an additional 20,726 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Southern

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

Southern Trading Up 0.6%

SO stock opened at $97.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $107.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.45. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Southern’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued 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 payout ratio is presently 75.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $103.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.08.

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.