Hexagon Capital Partners LLC Sells 465 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 465 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $587,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $363,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.89 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.50. 5,251,424 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,726,238. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.50.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.14%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

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.