Creative Planning Increases Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Creative Planning grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 449,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,805 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Southern were worth $41,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,319,000 after buying an additional 1,731 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,085,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 64,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. Balentine LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $902,000. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Southern by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 29,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.56.

Southern Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $90.65 on Friday. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.51. The company has a market cap of $99.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

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.