The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) EVP Sells $100,811.25 in Stock

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Martin Bernard Davis also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, December 5th, Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.12. 2,148,224 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,097,362. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Southern by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,864,000 after buying an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,570,000 after buying an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.