Captrust Financial Advisors Grows Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 298,324 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,658 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Southern were worth $24,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $90.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,982,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,401,374. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.24 and a 200 day moving average of $87.31. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.64 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $99.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.