Sei Investments Co. Acquires 117,227 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 28.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 533,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 117,227 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $51,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Key Stories Impacting Southern

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Southern’s Georgia Power subsidiary signed a long-term power agreement with OpenAI, which could support future electricity demand and reinforce the company’s role in powering AI data center growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced it is joining President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, highlighting a customer-first approach focused on rate stability, grid reliability, and responsible growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on near-term earnings, with Zacks saying Southern may have the right setup to beat upcoming results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its Q4 2026 EPS estimate to $0.60 from $0.55, but kept an Underweight rating and a $79 price target, so the update is mixed despite the higher forecast. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp also trimmed estimates for Southern’s Q3 2026, FY2028, FY2029, and FY2030 earnings, which may weigh on sentiment even though the changes were modest. Article Title

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $97.29 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a market cap of $109.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

About Southern

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.