The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Holdings Lowered by Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,806,063 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.46.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.52 during trading on Thursday, reaching $71.57. The company had a trading volume of 891,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,542,165. The stock has a market cap of $78.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.83. 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

Southern 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.