The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Position Raised by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 9.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 164,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,619 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 21,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 3,764 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Southern by 10.6% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 684,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,575,000 after purchasing an additional 65,826 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 2.6% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Colony Group LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 20.0% in the second quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 19,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Republic Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 856.1% during the second quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 795,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,738,000 after acquiring an additional 712,443 shares during the period. 61.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $85,381.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,832,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,569,766.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $85,381.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,832,299.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,680 shares of company stock valued at $1,174,768 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $67.65 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.98 and a 200 day moving average of $68.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $58.85 and a 12-month high of $80.57. The company has a market cap of $73.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Southern had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.40%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Southern from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Southern to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 16th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.93.

Southern Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.