The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.
Southern Trading Down 1.2 %
NYSE:SO traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $85.72. 4,390,791 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,928,759. The company has a market capitalization of $93.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. 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 twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.81.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.79.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Southern
Southern Company Profile
(
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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.
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