Carret Asset Management LLC Has $5.35 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Carret Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 273 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,945,000. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Southern by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $301,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $3,795,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SO traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.92. 5,660,756 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,702,166. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

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.