St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 23,555 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,127,000. Southern accounts for 1.7% of St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $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 $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.29 on Wednesday. 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 market capitalization of $97.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $88.06 and a 200-day moving average of $80.54. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $64.53 and a 1 year high of $91.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on SO. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.27.

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.