Kimberly Greene Sells 25,000 Shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) CEO Kimberly Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $97.63. The company had a trading volume of 886,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,030,852. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.94. The company has a market capitalization of $107.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Capital World Investors increased its position in Southern by 320.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,567,431 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $1,111,450,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Truist Financial set a $103.00 price objective on Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.