CapWealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,515 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

CapWealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,515 shares during the period. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank boosted its stake in Southern by 1,021.4% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $69.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,414,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,594,314. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.98. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. 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. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.07.

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.