Cambient Family Office LLC Takes $717,000 Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Cambient Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $717,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,450,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $93.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $105.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.06. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.32.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.