Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 44.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 305 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $70,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 6,303.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,812 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 8,375.3% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 849,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,989,000 after purchasing an additional 839,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 24.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,480,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,558,000 after purchasing an additional 485,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $74.37 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.31. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80. The stock has a market cap of $81.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

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.