Commerce Bank Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Commerce Bank acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 154,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,805,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,147,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $906,000. Madison Wealth Partners Inc bought a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth $206,000. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth $141,000. Finally, TRB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $406,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $89.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.40. The company has a market cap of $102.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

About Southern

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.