Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Holdings Increased by Cullinan Associates Inc.

Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 50.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,609 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 38,795 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $10,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.09 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $89.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.35. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.96 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $97.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

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.

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