Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Has $1.12 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 3.1% in the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. STAR Financial Bank increased its stake in Southern by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 6,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 4,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 38,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on SO shares. Barclays decreased their price target on 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. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, December 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total value of $359,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,291,435.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total transaction of $359,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,291,435.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,806,063. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.52 on Thursday, hitting $71.57. 891,767 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,542,165. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

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.