Commerce Bank Raises Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 161,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,448 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $14,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Elequin Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Copia Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $94.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $91.38 and its 200 day moving average is $89.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.