Southern (NYSE:SO) EVP Sells $643,891.95 in Stock

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $96.22. The company had a trading volume of 5,379,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,213,450. The stock has a market cap of $105.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.69. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings 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 worth $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth $1,179,715,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.