Insider Selling: Southern (NYSE:SO) CEO Sells 25,000 Shares of Stock

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

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $97.63. 886,283 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,030,852. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $93.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s payout ratio is 75.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Truist Financial set a $103.00 price objective on Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.08.

About Southern

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.