Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Increases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. TCW Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,162,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $585,000. FineMark National Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 5,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 109,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,676,000 after buying an additional 1,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upped their target price 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. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Southern Stock Up 0.8 %

Southern stock traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.75. 2,424,732 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,115,094. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $80.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $73.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $85.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.