CapWealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

CapWealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 238 shares during the quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp increased 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.79.

Southern Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of SO opened at $85.72 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.77. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

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.