Southern (NYSE:SO) Reaches New 52-Week High at $77.10

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $77.10 and last traded at $76.92, with a volume of 1246081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.71.

Southern Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $84.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $631,068,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Southern by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,153,065,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707,845 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $128,413,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.