Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $3.02 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 43,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 940 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,624,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $301,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,126 shares of company stock worth $1,364,115 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $78.14. The stock had a trading volume of 4,939,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,672,769. 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 Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $78.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $71.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 72.35%.

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.