First PREMIER Bank Sells 2,716 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First PREMIER Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,716 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 1.7% of First PREMIER Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,454,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Monday, reaching $79.21. 1,005,693 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,674,907. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $80.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.14.

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.