Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Purchases 25,700 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 64.6%, acquiring an additional 25,700 shares during the first quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $6.02 million.
• Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern Company’s stock from a "hold" to a "buy" rating while lowering its price target from $102.00 to $100.00, reflecting a mixed sentiment among analysts regarding the company's outlook.
• The company recently announced a quarterly $0.74 dividend, with an annualized yield of 3.1%, highlighting its ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders despite a miss in EPS expectations.

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 64.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,485 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 25,700 shares during the quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $6,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp lifted its position in Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $28,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Elequin Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $94.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,148,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,395,827. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $91.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. Southern's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.29.

Southern 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.