Ignite Planners LLC Sells 430 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ignite Planners LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 430 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XML Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 13,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 3,801 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 514,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,095,000 after acquiring an additional 12,849 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Southern by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,194,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,749,000 after purchasing an additional 221,452 shares in the last quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 93,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $231,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $64.53 and a 52 week high of $91.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s 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 $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 the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.