CIBC Asset Management Inc Has $22.04 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 267,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,122 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $22,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 8,741.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,524,000 after buying an additional 1,485,816 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after buying an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $51,605,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $85.72 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $93.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.79.

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.