M&T Bank Corp Grows Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 158,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,531 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $13,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.85.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $95.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.36. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.32%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.