CIBC Asset Management Inc Purchases 105,589 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• CIBC Asset Management increased its Southern Company stake by 27% in Q4, buying 105,589 additional shares and lifting its position to 496,353 shares worth about $43.3 million.
• Southern posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.32 per share on revenue of $8.4 billion, topping analyst estimates and reflecting 8% revenue growth from a year earlier.
• The utility also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share from $0.74, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a target price of $99.38.

CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 27.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 496,353 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 105,589 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Southern were worth $43,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.1%

SO stock opened at $90.60 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.82. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $102.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Southern and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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