GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. Invests $1.47 Million in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 20,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,471,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC raised its position in Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank boosted its position in shares of Southern by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,126 shares of company stock worth $1,364,115 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of SO traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $75.94. 2,204,084 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,742,854. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.74. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $76.28. The company has a market cap of $83.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.35%.

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.