Captrust Financial Advisors Cuts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Captrust Financial Advisors lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 280,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,612 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Southern were worth $20,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $631,068,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at $128,413,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 6,303.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,812 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,457,000 after acquiring an additional 934,447 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.50.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $83.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.21 and a 200-day moving average of $73.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $83.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The disclosure for this trade can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.