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

GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 20,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,471,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, CNB Bank lifted its position in Southern by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.47 on Tuesday, hitting $75.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,204,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,742,854. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.74. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $76.28. The company has a market capitalization of $83.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.71.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.