Cape Investment Advisory Inc. Has $986,000 Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 545 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Southern by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Southern by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $1,325,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.8 %

SO traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $77.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,424,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,115,094. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $80.14. 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 company has a market capitalization of $85.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly 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. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus raised their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Insider Activity

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

Southern Company 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.