Consolidated Planning Corp Trims Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Consolidated Planning Corp lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded down $1.16 on Friday, reaching $73.21. The company had a trading volume of 5,478,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,829,927. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.64 and a 200-day moving average of $69.36. The company has a market capitalization of $80.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.