19,870 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Bought by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 19,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,393,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its position in Southern by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 25,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,390 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 12,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Keene & Associates Inc. grew its position in Southern by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 25,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company grew its position in Southern by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 19,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $4,621,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,007,222.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,446,113. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded down $0.50 during trading on Monday, reaching $68.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 721,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,565,860. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.93. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The company has a market cap of $74.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.07.

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.