The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Strategic Planning Group LLC

Strategic Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 20.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,032 shares during the period. Strategic Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $631,068,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Southern by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,153,065,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707,845 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $128,413,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 6,303.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,812 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $79.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $86.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Argus raised their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.