Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Plan Group Financial LLC

Key Points

• Plan Group Financial LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 37.2% during the first quarter, owning a total of 19,730 shares valued at approximately $1.81 million.
• Southern Company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, which was below analyst expectations of $0.99, while its revenue increased by 7.9% year-over-year to $6.97 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a dividend yield of 3.1%.

Plan Group Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 37.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,730 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,690,000 after buying an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 562.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after buying an additional 1,162,288 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% in 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 valued at $428,794,000 after buying an additional 979,756 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1,747.3% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $73,785,000 after buying an additional 847,803 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.29.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.56 on Thursday, reaching $95.24. The stock had a trading volume of 4,162,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,522,047. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The business's 50-day moving average price is $91.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.65. The stock has a market cap of $104.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders 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 payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

About Southern

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.