Planning Capital Management Corp Sells 8,365 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Planning Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,325 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,365 shares during the period. Southern makes up about 2.7% of Planning Capital Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Planning Capital Management Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $4,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 63.2% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 120.1% in the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 678 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of SO traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $86.78. 3,265,132 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,442,814. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $95.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.