Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Reduces Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. trimmed its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 36.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,694 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. CNB Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 30.4% during the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,126 shares of company stock worth $1,364,115. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE SO opened at $78.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $85.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $78.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $71.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

About Southern

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.