Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,323 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $51,605,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $91.54 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $85.07 and a 200-day moving average of $87.00. The company has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

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.