The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.
Martin Bernard Davis also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Thursday, December 5th, Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00.
Southern Stock Performance
Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.95 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.94. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $98.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts predict that The 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased 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 in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.54.
Read Our Latest Research Report on SO
About Southern
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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