WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Makes New $223,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,002,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,284,352,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,841 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,917,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,489,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,841 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,652,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,436,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,068,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,424,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313,036 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 57.3% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,062,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,989 shares during the period. 61.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,569,766.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $85,381.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,512 shares in the company, valued at $1,832,299.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,569,766.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,680 shares of company stock valued at $1,174,768 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $67.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $58.85 and a 52 week high of $80.57.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.40%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Wolfe Research raised Southern from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on Southern in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.93.

Southern Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.