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 Southern 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $75.85 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.58. The company has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.98.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is 79.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average 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.