Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. Increases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.79.

Southern Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE SO opened at $84.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $92.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.64.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern 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.