M&T Bank Corp Has $14.09 Million Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 153,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,545 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $14,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Investors Research Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $39,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Elequin Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.93.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $91.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $89.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.99. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $77.71 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. 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 is 70.64%.

About Southern

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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