The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) EVP Sells $100,503.00 in Stock

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Southern Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $1.38 on Friday, reaching $84.81. 4,784,039 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,427,051. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $89.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.47.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 8,741.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $135,524,000 after buying an additional 1,485,816 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Southern by 2,719.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,670,000 after acquiring an additional 841,435 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Company Profile

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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