The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) EVP Sells $211,796.20 in Stock

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:SO traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $86.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,326,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,524,117. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $94.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.20. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $89.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,067,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 382.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after buying an additional 33,120 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,288,000. Nwam LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus upped their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

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.