Plan Group Financial LLC Buys 5,353 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Plan Group Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 37.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,353 shares during the quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $889,490,000 after acquiring an additional 460,594 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Southern by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Southern by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Southern by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,107,000 after purchasing an additional 120,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,617,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,684,000 after purchasing an additional 22,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $96.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.