Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Buys New Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• CBRE Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC initiated a new position in Southern Company during the fourth quarter, buying 184,682 shares valued at about $16.1 million.
• Southern reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $1.32 per share versus the $1.21 consensus and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 8% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share from $0.74, bringing the annualized payout to $3.04 and implying a 3.4% yield.

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 184,682 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $16,104,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.47 and a 200 day moving average of $91.83. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 77.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on SO shares. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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