The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is First PREMIER Bank’s 10th Largest Position

First PREMIER Bank reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 87,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,591 shares during the period. Southern accounts for 1.8% of First PREMIER Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $87.01. 2,798,040 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,484,767. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $95.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $89.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus raised their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.00.

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.