Citizens Business Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Citizens Business Bank reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Citizens Business Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after buying an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,657,000 after purchasing an additional 52,414 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $245,113,000 after purchasing an additional 145,810 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

SO opened at $84.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.00.

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.