Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 9,694 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,694 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $301,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SO opened at $78.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $78.55. The firm has a market cap of $85.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.22 and its 200-day moving average is $69.93.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.71.

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.