Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Has $1.49 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Curran Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Curran Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Parkside Investments LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Investments LLC now owns 61,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,084,000 after purchasing an additional 13,485 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in Southern by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 96,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,908,000 after buying an additional 3,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SO. 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. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of SO opened at $83.50 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $84.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.50. 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

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.