Kimberly S. Greene Sells 9,126 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $75.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.64. The stock has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.98.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,691 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Southern by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank cut their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

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.