Plan Group Financial LLC Purchases 1,371 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Plan Group Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Southern by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Southern by 2,719.7% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,670,000 after purchasing an additional 841,435 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Southern by 7,657.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,304,000 after purchasing an additional 563,785 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Southern by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,457,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’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 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 $1,112,375. This trade represents 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, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $93.14 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $93.73. The firm has a market cap of $101.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

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.