Comerica Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Comerica Bank cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 251,191 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,130 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Southern were worth $20,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $91.39 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $90.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $100.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $74.64 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.54.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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