Insider Selling: The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) CEO Sells 32,190 Shares of Stock

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Southern Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $1.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.93. 482,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,221,525. The stock has a market cap of $100.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.04. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.