The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 315,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,998,000 after buying an additional 2,307 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $1,974,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 164,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,564,000 after buying an additional 1,785 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE SO opened at $91.54 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.00.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

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.