Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Has $56.35 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 803,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 281,730 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Southern worth $56,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $631,068,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 6,303.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,924,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank cut their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Southern from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.60.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $2.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $80.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,168,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,550,382. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $80.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.13.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.