InterOcean Capital Group LLC Grows Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

InterOcean Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 815,482 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 33,795 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for about 1.5% of InterOcean Capital Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. InterOcean Capital Group LLC owned about 0.07% of Southern worth $57,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Southern by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,399,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC increased its position in Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its position in Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,454,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank increased its position in Southern by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.73.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded up $0.58 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,694,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,823,709. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $72.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.55. 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 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $80.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern's payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.

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