Creative Planning Purchases 27,949 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 356,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,949 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Southern were worth $27,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.10 on Monday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.66. The company has a market cap of $98.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.60.

Southern Company 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.