The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Position Boosted by Creative Planning

Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 368,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Southern were worth $33,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 382.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Southern by 149.5% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 9,726 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 219.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares during the period. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.6 %

Southern stock opened at $93.24 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.79. The firm has a market cap of $101.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $64.53 and a twelve month high of $93.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.