Creative Planning Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 368,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Southern were worth $33,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $65,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $3,096,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Southern by 20.9% during the first quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 17,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,257,000 after buying an additional 3,032 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Stock Up 0.6 %

SO stock opened at $93.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.79. The company has a market capitalization of $101.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a PEG 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.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.