Gilbert & Cook Inc. Raises Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Southern by 17,272.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 8,741.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485,816 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $51,605,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $83.83. 208,837 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,960,471. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

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.