The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by CNB Bank

CNB Bank boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. CNB Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $55,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Southern by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Southern by 63.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,776,000 after acquiring an additional 239,325 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $1.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $72.15. 6,549,289 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,270,214. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.07.

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.