Cutler Investment Counsel LLC Purchases New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $577,657,000 after acquiring an additional 52,414 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.79.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE SO opened at $85.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $93.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.38 and a 200-day moving average of $86.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.