Cullinan Associates Inc. Has $9.97 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Cullinan Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 20.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 103,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 26,493 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Midwest Trust Co increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the first quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 226,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,847,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Southern by 211.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 331,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,040,000 after buying an additional 225,327 shares during the period. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter valued at $212,000. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in Southern by 62.6% during the first quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Southern by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 145,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,057,000 after acquiring an additional 5,010 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:SO traded up $0.45 on Friday, hitting $95.62. The stock had a trading volume of 3,096,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,509,696. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is $94.03 and its 200 day moving average is $93.09. The company has a market cap of $107.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.