Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour Sells 2,380 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $86.45. 4,326,813 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,524,117. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.20. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $89.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.33.

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.