Capital Investment Counsel LLC Sells 649 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Capital Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 649 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $468,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.3% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Southern by 8.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 184,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,290,000 after purchasing an additional 14,399 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $297,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Down 3.3 %

NYSE:SO opened at $83.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.55. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.