Cornerstone Capital Inc. Sells 4,593 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cornerstone Capital Inc. cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 63,964 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,593 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $5,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Southern by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,440,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $200,943,000 after purchasing an additional 64,328 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 778,774 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,109,000 after acquiring an additional 133,908 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 155,310 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,785,000 after purchasing an additional 4,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Square LLC raised its position in Southern by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 24,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,070,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $91.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,208,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,055,070. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.59 and a 200 day moving average of $87.33. The Southern Company has a one year low of $73.14 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Corporate 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.