Kimberly S. Greene Sells 32,190 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $88.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $85.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.08. The company has a market capitalization of $97.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its 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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. XML Financial LLC grew its stake in Southern by 8.5% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 14,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 9.2% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth about $725,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Southern by 154.1% during the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 3,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 19,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,720,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

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.