CreativeOne Wealth LLC Acquires 9,855 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 44.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,855 shares during the quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $89.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.97.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Southern Company 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.