Cornerstone Planning LLC Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Cornerstone Planning LLC bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $836,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 227,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,342 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Southern by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 30,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,625,000 after buying an additional 10,519 shares in the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $276,000. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,920,000. Finally, Advisortrust Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.32.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $93.23 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $105.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.