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

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 368,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,245,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $256,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Southern by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 65,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,918,000 after acquiring an additional 3,443 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,037,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,531,000 after acquiring an additional 22,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.79.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $85.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.81. The company has a market capitalization of $93.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

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.