Cornerstone Planning LLC Invests $836,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

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

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,111,450,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SO. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.32.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $93.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.07. The company has a market cap of $105.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.