The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 358.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,714 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 20,888 shares during the quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.57. 6,226,973 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,873,369. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $77.58 and its 200-day moving average is $72.28. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $80.84. The company has a market capitalization of $84.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern's payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.