Romano Brothers AND Company Boosts Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Romano Brothers AND Company increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,945,000. Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 200.9% in the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 76,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,933,000 after buying an additional 50,897 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,998 shares of company stock worth $1,446,113 over the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.14.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.73. The stock had a trading volume of 4,818,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,159,216. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $75.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

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.