Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Sells 359 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 359 shares during the quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $84.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $92.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.25 and its 200 day moving average is $85.45. 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 Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.00.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.